Bats and Leaguers: The Oncoming Storm
by Airmage
Summary: Book 1: The Justice League was the flower of earth, while the Bat Clan hid in its shadows, working silently to protect the defenseless. And for the past few years, Wally Grayson had made his home with the Bats. But when enemies unite, secrets of the past come to light and his whole world is turned upside down. Has his new family also betrayed him? *Editing in process*
1. Prologue

**Chapter Edited: Enjoy!**

* * *

Prologue: The other heroes

The world loved the Justice League; how could they not? The League had powers, they had strength. They fought against the super-villains and kept the world safe from harm. They work together to solve the problems of the world, proving that it takes more than just one hero to save it. They stand for truth, liberty, and justice; they stand against evil. People know that they can trust them. So hey, who doesn't like people in tights with superpowers and free autographs?

But there's group of heroes, ones known to only the people they come in contact with, and remaining rumors and legends to all others. A group of heroes who can remain hidden for years to the outside world, escaping notice of all save for those they reveal themselves to. If their deeds came to light, the people's current admiration for the Justice League would _pale_ in comparison to the admiration they would receive.

These people are the Bat-Clan.

It started as nothing more than one man's ambition to protect the city, his home, from the gangs and the villains that plagued it. But when he took in a small child, his little bird, it changed. And the clan grew as well. From being the Dark Knight to the Dynamic duo, it was now a group of dozens of people, all working together silently to protect the ones they love, the human species they are a part of, and the planet they call home.

Loved by only the cities they protect, the governments they had worked with, and the people they had protected, they don't have any 'powers'; not ones that people would considered as superpowers. They hold respect from all who believe in them, even from some of the villains they fight against. They work in the shadows of the world, sometimes helping others without them even knowing. They are unwilling to let others help them, however, reluctant to let their secrets come into the light. Very few have the skills to become a Bat, but for those who did and were found, they were trained immediately to become one of the most skilled people on earth.

They can evade anyone for a long period of time. They have no 'super-powers', but they have their intellect, their strength, and their willingness to save others.

But they also have other quality, one that stands out in each of them differently, and one that makes the Bat Clan so much different from the other heroes.

It was the quality to understand loss. It was the quality to take in someone who'd suffer from loss, from having anything precious to them ripped away by life, leaving them alone in the darkness, with nothing to hold onto; because every single Bat had felt that loss. Every single Bat had plummeted downwards, feeling lost and confused, hurt and neglected by the world. They had grasped the hand of the darkest night, and had felt it bring them down. But they had been pulled back up by a Bat, forming a bond thicker than blood. And after such a bond had formed, how could any Bat break away? How could they dare to leave behind the people who were more than family to them?

It was these very qualities that gave them another member; another brother-in-arms.

It was these qualities which made Dick Grayson stop when he heard crying outside of an ally in Blüdhaven. It was these qualities which made Dick go inside the ally and discover a young boy just nine years old. It was these qualities which made him pick up the boy, and take him to the hospital. It was these qualities which made him give the boy another chance at life, a better life. It was these qualities which made him adopt the boy, Wally West, as his son and trainee.

After Wally healed, Dick trained him to be a Bat, a brother-in-arms. A desire burned in Wally, just as it had burned in the other Bats, a desire to save others from the monsters of the world they lived in. Just a year after his training completed, Batman formally made him into a Bat, also the second Bat with powers; Strike.

Now, six years after Wallace Rudolph West became Walter West Grayson, Strike continues to work alongside with Nightwing and Mistress Magic, his mentors. Together, the three strike fear into the hearts of every villain they come across, wherever on the planet they met.

Wally never thought about talking to his living relatives, a mom who neglected him, a father who's in jail, and an aunt who never had time. He never thought about seeing them again; he rarely even _thinks_ about them. With his new family, one whom he knows will always have his back, he doesn't need to think about his blood family again.

But Fate has other plans; for when the enemies of the rivals unite, then the rivals will clash. And eventually, they must come together, for the sake of their families, their friends, their world, and their own sanity.

* * *

The Bat Cave was silent. The Dark Knight himself stood in front of a natural alcove hidden by a display of old costumes. There was no light in the little hook, but with night-vision in his mask he read the file easily enough, as he had the past several times.

**Birth Name: Wallace Rudolph West**

**Legalized Name: Walter West Grayson-Wayne**

**Age Found: 9 years**

**Current Age: 14 years**

**Location Found: Alley between Dunkin' Donuts and Jane's Thrift Store on Alistair Street**

**Found time: 21:45 EST**

**Found Condition: Swollen black eye (right); three fractured ribs (left side); two broken ribs (right side) with punctured right lung; broken arm; broken leg; slightly-fractured skull; severe blood-loss; broken hip; infected cut on left arm; high fever due too cold and infection; malnutrition; concussion**

**Admittance to Doctor Alisha Gupta's Private Clinic: 00:30 EST**

**Initial Conclusion: Death within the next two hours if not one hour. Medical reason unclear; biology and experimentation may play a role**

**Action Taken: Impulsively given an untested injection created with Lazarus Pit waters and the Syrup; administered by RJGW**

**Final Condition: Healed within the next five days**

**Final result: After five days: still malnourished; permanent scar on hip; tumor in brain**

**Current problems: Drapetomania, permanent scar on hip-can be used as identifying factor; tumor in brain**

** *Note: tumor in brain prevents certain emotions from reaching certain levels ie extreme sadness or extreme happiness. Life-threatening consequences; medication given by Dr. Gupta alleviates side-effects of tumor. Multiple surgeries to no avail.**

**Biological and First Legal Family: Rudolph West was fined of the following charges: Child Neglect and attempted first degree murder. Mary West found guilty of Child Neglect and accessory to murder. Both jailed; parole in fifteen years. Aunt Katherine West could not be contacted during the arrests; last seen with the Biological father. Biological mother gave up all rights to child.**

**Custody: Currently in custody of Richard John Grayson-Wayne and Zatanna Zatara Grayson-Wayne as adopted son. If both legal guardians died before Wallace turns 21, legal custody will be handed over to Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd-Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Timothy Drake-Wayne (if he reaches 21 years old) or Barbara Gordon. In extreme cases custody will go to Talia Al Ghul**

**Current Legal Family members: Grayson-Waynes (Father-Richard John, Mother-Zatanna Zatara, Sister-Maria Sindella) Waynes (Bruce, Damian Al Ghul, Thomas, Anna) Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne, and Jason Peter Todd-Wayne.**

At the slight shuffle of noise, Batman didn't even turn around, only reaching backwards for the file.

"Hey Nightwing, how are you? Oh hey Batman, I'm fine, you know?"

The file was placed in his hands.

"So, did you bring the file I asked for? Oh you bet! I brought them in just like I always do every single year."

"Did Dr. Gupta have anything to add, off record?" a gruff, no-nonsense voice asked, pointedly ignoring the antics of the younger man

"Nothing new; just her unspoken disapproval, as usual" Nightwing, clad in his blue and black uniform, took his place right by the Dark Knight.

"Any headaches or nightmares recently?" Batman continued his interrogation.

"Nope," Nightwing replied. "The last known nightmare was six months ago and the last headache was from Maria's birthday party. But honestly, I think all the adults got a headache from that."

"It's unnatural for kids her age to scream that loud," Batman agreed. He closed the file. "Known nightmare?"

"He could be hiding them better now, or they're not so bad that he couldn't handle it alone. Either way, I believe it's no cause for worry."

"And…what about his drapetomania? Is he still running away from home?"

Nightwing tensed beside him "Yeah, but not before, after, or during missions or patrol. He doesn't take off from school as much anymore, only twice so far this school year."

"And when he does take off?" Batman questioned.

"You know what happens," Nightwing replied shortly "I already told you when he did the last time. Honestly, not a lot has changed in a day."

Batman nodded "Then there's nothing to be updated, so that saves me an hour of sleep."

As he returned the file into the cabinet (all important files were saved in paper) Nightwing added "And from Alfred yelling at you."

Both Dark Knight and the first Boy Wonder turned and walked into the dark, reaching the big 'Bat-desk', as dubbed by all but Batman.

"By the way, I forgot to congratulate you on your new relationship," Nightwing grinned, clapping his father on the shoulder. Batman ignored his immediately mood change "I'm glad you took my advice. But I gotta admit I'm curious. What did you tell her?"

"The truth," Batman slipped into the changing room, not bothering to ask how his oldest son knew. Agent A probably told him.

Nightwing leaned against the wall of old uniforms, wondering a boutwhat his adoptive father told him and still wondering why he didn't burn his very first uniform in the first place. He had no idea what little 9-year Dick Grayson was thinking. When Bruce Wayne stepped out, he was surprised (not really) to find his protégé still there. "What more do you want to know?"

"The details," Nightwing smirked "There isn't a gossiping magazine for this you know."

Bruce paused, and rubbed his forehead "I told her that I'm not the man I act around her. I have the tendency to take things for granted and to use people as pawns. Every member of the Clan I see as a soldier first, then a human being. I put my work above everything else. I can and will do anything in short of killing to accomplish the mission."

"And she still said she wanted to try to be in a relationship with you?"

"She said what I said was bullshit and I didn't know it yet."

Nightwing laughed. "She'll be good for you. You need to have a little more faith in your people skills" He ssmiled. "And it'll be good for Damian. He's needs a mother-figure in his life. Thalia's not exactly filling that role."

"Thalia's doing the best she can," Bruce defended. "And I have no intention of marrying her."

"She _can_ handle Damian," Nightwing argued "Don't forget who she is, and don't you dare let Alfred lose that bet. He bet me that the two of you will get married. I said that you would break-up first before you proposed."

Bruce scowled, and turned away "Go home, or _you're_ the one who'll get yelled at."

Nightwing sighed and shook his head "Alright, alright. Just know that Alfred's never wrong. The man practically raised you. Beam me back, will ya Scotty?" The Zeta-tube, a high powered machine developed by Star Labs and Wayne Technology (for only a highly select group), was right by the main computer. Bruce punched in the coordinates. Nightwing stepped in, and disappeared with a grin and a flash.

Bruce, on the other hand, allowed the darkness to swallow him, heading towards the stairs that will lead him home.


	2. Escape from DC

**Edited:**

* * *

Chapter One: Escape from D.C

(Strike POV)

His head hurt, especially since the room was so brightly lit.

Blinking a few times while sitting up, he started to take note of his surroundings.

'_Hospital smell's a dead give-away,_' panicking, his hands flew up to his mask. His fingers met with lots of bandages. Moving his hand downwards, he sighed with relief as he felt the smooth fabric of his uniform. It was made of Kevlar and a whole bunch of other fabrics he didn't even know the name of. Diamond was in it as well; a few years ago he helped Batman find stop a shipment of a rare type of Diamond, later dubbed Omni-Diamond and Wall-mans Diamond, with proprieties that made him, Batman, and every other science-geek who studied it be convinced that it wasn't anything from this planet. It had the ability to 'enhance' the properties of any materials it came in contact with. A few months later, every Bat had new, improved uniforms, and added utilities only meant to be used in an emergency.

Another dead give-away was the large Justice League Logo on the floor.

Events of the previous days slowly started to come back to him. He remembered feeling nauseous and restless, so much so that he decided to run. He felt constricted and pressured, like the weight of the whole world was weighing down on him.

So he ran.

The farthest he got was Virginia, where he randomly tag-teamed with The Outlaws to fight off a small horde of invading aliens who had no set plan but to attack everything in sight and hope for the best. The fight was long, and releasing the people that the aliens held hostage for some reason took a lot longer than planned. He remembered getting knocked out but a large, buff, possibly female alien who looked angrier than a woman who caught her husband cheating on her. How he got here though, he had no idea.

The door opened, and he snapped his head towards the newcomer. It was a tall blonde, in her early thirties, wearing a black Leonard and gray tights. She placed both her hands on her waist, and gave him a hard look.

"Looks like you've healed," Black Canary stated coolly.

"Wasn't even hurt in the first place, sweetheart" he grinned widely at her.

Ignoring his jab, she replied coolly "Good; then you can come here."

He stood up, stretching, and yawned widely "What if I fall over and go into a coma?"

"Then I'll give them your hair samples so that they could figure out who you are," she replied evenly.

'_What?'_ He resisted the urge to touch his hair, figuring it was just a bluff. He walked over without a complaint. As soon as he neared her, he was turned around and handcuffed, though not before she pressed lightly against his palm. A tiny buzz rang in his ears. '_Aha! Bats got people inside everything doesn't he?'_ he thought as he recognized a comm link being set up to whoever was in charge.

'_Strike,'_ Nightwing's voice said quietly. '_Say something stupid if you can hear me.'_

"You know, it's a pity you're too old for me," Strike flirted; it counted as stupid as he already had a girlfriend and Black Canary was way too old for him, "I would have totally gone out with someone as beautiful as you."

"Lucky me I guess," Black Canary retort smoothly. She roughly pushed him out the door, and they started to walk down the long hallway.

"Aw, come on now, don't be like that." All he received was a slap to the back of his head.

'_Ha! Schooled,'_ Nightwing giggled. '_Anyway, Black Canary's an ally, as you probably figured out. Red Hood's been taken as well.'_

They came out into a large lounge, which had bookcases, a large computer, and several couches in the middle. There was a small platform encircling the area, and several more bookcases, chairs, and tables could be seen. A small group of superheroes, (none of the Supers though) were huddled in a far corner, acting every bit the teenagers they were. They, when they saw Strike and Black Canary, stopped altogether and stared. He counted five of them, and noticed that they were the ones who didn't have a mentor at all: Blue Beetle, Static, Astral, Mist, and Speed.

'_His location is the interrogation room right next to yours. You need to be careful. The Supers are all here.'_

"Shouldn't you kids get ready?" Black Canary barked, but he could detect a hint of warmth underneath it "You're public debut is in a few minutes."

'_Geez, a public debut? What are they, royalty? _Nightwing voiced Strike's thoughts exactly.

"That's pretty counterproductive," one of them, Astral, muttered. Strike smirked; looks like not all of Young Justice was as 'show-cased' as the League was.

'_Anyway, __you will be interrogated by another Leaguer. Superman is currently interrogating Red Hood. He will leave in a few minutes. When he does, Black Canary will take over Red Hood's interrogation. On my sig__nal, and only on my signal, are you to knock out your Leaguer.'_

"So this is the interrogation room huh?" Strike cut off Nightwing the moment he saw a large graffiti on the wall that said 'Interrogation bo-nation'. One of the mini-Leaguers must have put it up.

Black Canary said nothing, but Strike could feel her glare, either aimed at his right ear or the graffiti. She opened a door (he could hear Superman shouting at Red Hood next door and smirked) and shoved him inside. She took off his cuffs, and left without another word, slamming the door behind her.

"Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," he commented, rubbing his wrist. His head still hurt like hell. He reached for an aspirin in his belt, (wait, why didn't they take his belt off?) and swallowed it down with the water on the table, careful not to touch the glass to his lips. He sat down, and waited for his interrogator, strumming his fingers on the table.

It was only a few seconds, but it felt like minutes to him, when the door opened. He looked up to find, _Aquaman?_ Really, out of the entire Justice League, he had to get the one who was practically powerless and was probably only on the League because of some alliance thing.

"I believe I'm at a disadvantage," the King of the seas stated "You know my name, but I don't know yours."

'_Just as arrogant as a Leaguer would be,'_ Strike raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

"Well I also believe that I know that you're a cocky son of a gun. Now you know that I'm a sassy bastard," Strike replied.

"What's your name," Aquaman asked in a hard voice.

"Strike," he answered, putting his feet up on the table.

"Not the one you call yourself, but the one your parents gave you."

"Like hell I'll tell you. It's called a secret identity for a reason."

"Secret identities are for superheroes and law enforcement undercover," Aquaman retorted "You are neither."

"Course not, because both of them are highly overrated," Strike shot back. "Honestly, in another few years, you guys will die out like a fashion fad."

"Then what do you call yourself; a vigilante?"

Honestly, Strike was surprised that he hadn't been sucker-punched or bitch-slapped yet. "I'm not a member of a club that enforces laws and thinks I'm so much mightier than everyone else. I'm a member of the 'hey-let's-save-people-since-it's-a-good-and-right-thing-to-do club."

"And what's this club called?" Strike had to give Aquaman points for not raising to the bait, or losing his temper yet.

"I just told you."

Nightwing's voice suddenly spoke up '_Now'_.

This time, Strike was glad that he was the one who gave out the sucker-punch. Aquaman reeled backwards, stunned but not unconscious. Using his speed, Strike slammed into him and punched him several times.

The door burst open.

"Let's move!" Red Hood shouted. In a moment he was out the door, and the two were racing down the hallway. Red Hood twisted around and threw something. A moment later a small bomb went off.

"That was conspicuous!" Strike shouted over the roar of bomb.

"Never was told otherwise; free reign kid!" Red Hood replied.

"What about Black Canary?"

"She ran out to get the Leaguers. We only have a few moments."

"You know where the back door is?"

Red Hood laughed "That's part of the fun, kid!" He grinned as well.

They raced down through the hallway. At one point, they came across Hawkwoman and Hawkman looking rather cozy in the coffee room. "Sorry!" Strike shouted as he slammed the door shut and raced on with Red Hood following him.

It felt good, though, just running, with pure adrenaline coursing through his veins. He held back his laugh, until they burst through the doors.

"Stop right there!" Black Canary was there, looking pissed, but relatively unharmed. A few other Leaguers, meaning the two League Green Lanterns, Dr. Fate, and Captian Marvel, had surrounded them, pressing them against the back of the Hall of Justice. When Strike turned around, he saw the two Hawks burst through the door; crap.

"Got any great ideas?" Strike asked Red Hood as he backed up against the older Bat.

He heard the sound of two guns being loaded "Got your weapon?"

Strike pulled out his bo-staff, and twirled it. "Fight our way out, awesome."

'_Stay right there, don't attack. Reinforcements are on their way._' Nightwing ordered.

"No fun Birdie," Red Hood muttered.

"Put down your weapons," Wonder Woman shouted "And you will not be harmed!"

Strike remained silent, watching, waiting. _'Where are they?_' Red Hood said nothing either, but he was pretty sure that the older man had raised both of his guns.

The two Green Lanterns moved first, and encased the two in a large green bubble. "Try getting out of this one," the white one, (Hal Jordon) smirked.

"He has a point," Strike said, lowering his bo-staff.

"Wait and see, kid; the Bat's go a whole lot of tricks up his sleeve." Red Hood responded quietly, his body still posed for action.

"I've got orders for you to let them go," A new voice spoke up. In all his rude glory, Guy Gardner appeared, crossing his arms, with that really condescending smirk of his. But Strike was never happier to see him.

"Gardner," The venom in both of the Lantern's voices was strong enough to make him wince. The green shell that they were trapped in was removed, leaving them exposed to the Leaguers, and vice versa.

'_Someone's _really_ hated…_'

"Pulled in a favor from the Guardians of the Universe," Gardner continued. As everyone's attention turned toward the new arrival, Strike strained his ears for any noise any indication that help was coming on the way. Ignoring the heated argument that broke out, he thought he could hear a faint whipping sound from a helicopter.

_And bingo,_ he thought, slowly backing away from the group with Red Hood.

"If the word of the Guardians wasn't enough for you," Gardner's voice brought his attention back into the conversation "Fine, whatever. Take it up with them. I gave them my reasons, and they gave me permission. You don't let those two go, you're disagreeing with someone _way_ above your payroll."

"And you're not telling us why they want us to let them go," John Stewart responded just as coldly.

"Because the Guardians believe that the Clan is what the world deserves."

"What the world needs and what it deserves are two different things," Captain Marvel now joined their conversation. The rest of the Leaguers circled them, though not before each of them was pulled back as if by an invisible string.

"That's our cue!" Red Hood put his guns away, and looked up towards the large helicopter that appeared out of nowhere. Strike blinked in confusion as to how that could happen, until he saw Mistress Magic hovering above. He could see her smile and wink at them; if anyone could pull of a spell that kept a helicopter silent, it was her.

Unfortunately, the conscious Leaguers sprang into actions. With Guy managed to hold off the two Green Lanterns, the two Hawks, who had quickly recovered, charged at the helicopter. Strike just grabbed one of the two ropes that dropped down from the copter, and was being pulled up. He grunted as Red Hood slammed into him, curtsey of Captain Marvel. A strong force block his path and he gave out a sharp cry as he was crushed between over four hundred pounds, roughly, and the green wall of Lantern stubbornness. It seemed to surprise Captain Marvel as well; Red Hood took this opportunity to slam his head into Captain Marvel's. The Leaguer slid to the bottom of the green bubble, unconscious.

He grinned as the rope pulled him up into the helicopter. "Need a hand?" he looked up to find his girlfriend, Archer Green, smirking at him, her hand held out towards him. His heart fluttered (as if always did when he saw her but no one needs to know that) as he smiled back at her, whose hair was tied up in a ponytail, save for a few stray bangs that managed to come loose.

"Never been happier to see you babe," Strike grinned as he took her hand and pulled himself up. Tigress, Archer Green's (or AG's) second oldest sister pulled up Red Hood. "I'm guessing Chesh's in the pit?"

"We got a new trick up our sleeve," Cheshire said in the over-comm, the helicopter doors automatically slamming shut "Hold tight; we're experimenting."

Before he could list all the reason why human experimentation with new technology was a bad idea, he felt a familiar tingling through his body. A flash of bright light later and he found himself looking at an empty helicopter pad, and the blue sky beyond it. He could tell that they were standing on some type of airfield…that was in the sky?

"So…we have our own helicarrier?" Strike asked, amazed. It looked empty of people, but had a few planes and helicopters that seemed to be strapped down. He had no doubt that someone was watching at all times. He wondered how they managed to breathe properly high up in this altitude- must be some form of shield around them. AG grabbed his hand, and held onto it tightly.

"Sort of; only found out yesterday," Tigress replied, her hand on her hip.

They were facing the large, three story building that popped out in the center, when the double doors opened, and a welcoming committee (in suits and uniforms) came out.

"Welcome to Air Force Infinite." AG told him.


	3. Debriefing

**Edited:**

* * *

Chapter Two: Debriefing

(Mistress Magic POV)

One moment the Leaguers were gaining the upper hand. The next, they were all unconscious or distracted enough for her to open and portal to let Gardner and the helicopter to pass through. Then, she asked for a parley.

"You just tried to attack us, and now you're asking for a parley?" Captain Marvel asked her incredulously.

"I gave time for the people who needed to escape to escape, so really, all of this fighting is pointless," she replied.

"Geez lady, I really can't figure out just how crazy you are," Hal Jordon snapped at her "First, you attack the members of the Justice League, and now you want to talk."

She slowly lowered herself onto the ground. "I have a formal request you don't want to miss out on.

"And who, exactly, is this request, from" Black Canary was helped to her feet by John Stewart.

"Batman," she replied evenly. There was a moment's pause, each Leaguer looking at her in shock.

"Batman is just a myth," Dr. Fate finally replied, landing near her.

Hearing his voice was like a punch in the gut for her. She clenched her fist, and mentally counted back from ten, trying to cool her temper. Hearing him talk so casually to her, as if nothing had ever happened between them, made her want to curse the entire League into oblivion. But she reminded herself that, if she took of her black and gold domino mask, then _he'd _be the one who'd be surprised. After all, her civilian self was supposed to have lost ninety-nine percent of her magic; she managed to restrain herself. "And I'm here to tell you he's not."

After a moment's pause, Black Canary replied "Fine."

"Hey you have no right to say that," John Stewart protested "I am one of the founding members of the Justice League-"

"Think about it," Black Canary interrupted. She moved closer and quietly talked to Stewart, though Mistress Magic could hear every word. "Batman's just a name that's whispered among many people, but no one's really sure if he's real or not. Villains seemed to be more afraid of him than the Justice League. We _need_ to learn more about him."

Stewart looked like he wanted to argue, but finally he sighed, "You have a point. And you," he spoke to Mistress Magic, "will be restrained and under guard while we take you inside."

She only nodded her consent, and let herself be bind by Stewart, who used his ring to wrap around 'green energy', or whatever it was called, around her waist, pinning her arms to her side, and around her mouth, preventing her from speaking.

She was led in the middle of a procession, following them through the stark white tunnels of the Hall of Justice. Dr. Fate walked a little too closely for her comfort, probably to figure out who she was.

_Not that you keep up with the magical community enough to recognize me_, she thought bitterly: the coward. She had half a mind to curse him into oblivion if it weren't for the fact that it wouldn't serve her purpose.

Her nostrils flared as she smelled something burning. "What in God's name is that," Captain Marvel exclaimed, waving a hand in front of his face.

They passed through quite a few hallways, the smell getting stronger and stronger. Finally, they came across large, burning pile of debris, probably Red Hood's doing. A small moan caught their attention.

"Who's there?" Captain Marvel surged forward. A few minutes, he shouted "It's Aquaman, he's hurt!"

Stewart barked out his orders "Green Lantern and Black Canary, go help Captain Marvel and see to it that Aquaman gets the treatment he needs." He turned towards Mistress Magic, removing the green bind around her mouth "Screw Superman; talk, now."

'_Big mistake,_' she smiled at him. '_I could play this banter all day.'_ "Not until the Big Blue Boy Scout is here," She replied, sitting Indian style in mid air. "After all, it's a message for him."

"Well, the Big Blue Boy Scout is here," Superman emerged from the smoke. He crossed his arms, and glared at her so intensely that she wondered why laser beams were shooting out of his eyes yet. Wonder Woman stood on one side, with Superboy on the other, looking so much like a jock who though he was better than anyone. The complete clone of the Kryptonian had a ridiculous punk haircut which left the sides of his head bear of any hair, and the top overflowing with it. He somehow managed to get his ears pierced.

She smiled and nodded, sensing that Dr. Fate was far away "It's a simple message Superman. Luthor's up to something that could potentially endanger Blüdhaven. Batman is telling you to stop him."

Superman's eyes narrowed. "And just how do I know that Batman's real?"

Mistress Magic just smiled at him.

"Believe" was her only answer. She hoped that the big, black floating Bat Symbol appeared after she disappeared in front of the Leaguer's eyes. Who's to say she didn't have a flair for the dramatic?

* * *

(Strike POV)

He instantly recognized the woman who led the group. Dark skinned, slightly larger than the last time he saw her (probably due to stress and sitting behind a desk all day), wearing a formal woman's business attire and looking like she would live a thousand years and still look the same, Dr. Amanda Josephina Waller briskly marched towards them, with two people he knew about. Amanda Walker was in charge of the organization called Task Force X.

Task Force X was divided into two groups. The first group worked for the US government, and to an extant the UN, to keep a check on all people with superpowers, whether or not they were superheroes. These often contained combatants and non-combatants alike, as well as people who could have been in the Bat Clan, but didn't make the cut. The second group was the Suicide Squad. They were all villains who were forced to work with Waller in order to…well their purpose varied. Often they were used to clean up after a monumental screw-up by the government, which involved anything out of the ordinary.

Both groups were the line of defense in case the Justice League went rogue. Of course, the Justice League doesn't know about them, and he wasn't sure how the Clan got involved with them. Two members of Task Force X, the Guardian and Agent Hagen, walked on either side of Dr. Walker.

"Strike, you have mission-briefing with Nightwing. Agent Hagen will take you to him," Dr. Walker greeted. "As for the rest of you, Agent K wishes to see you."

"Hello to you too," Strike raised an eyebrow, and pushed aside the sinking feeling when he heard that Nightwing wanted to talk to him. Unfortunately, he knew why, and he…was slightly still not really ready to talk about it. He was also curious as to why Agent K, head of one of the world's top spy organizations, Spyral, wanted to talk with them. "So, what exactly is this place?"

"A communications center," Dr. Walker replied, as she led the group inside. "This is Spyral's new headquarters, as well as a refugee center for certain members of society, should the need arise. It's the new pit stop for any member of the Batman Incorporated, if need be." Batman Incorporated was the organization which included the Clan (who mostly stay in America), Batman International (Bats who work outside of America), and any allies. Batman's sort of in charge of the Clan and the International, with Nightwing his second. On the other hand, Spyral was a covert operations agency that basically takes the 'rebels' or outcasts of society, the ones left behind, and gives them a place to stay, sort of like what the Bat Inc. does. Some of them were part timers though, mostly so Spyral could have eyes and ears in every sort of place possible.

"Out of the League's visual, I'm guessing," Red Hood said.

"They still don't know we exist," Tigress snorted "Some heroes they are."

"It's best if you get going," Dr. Walker replied. "I have things to do. Agent Hagen, report back to our assigned rooms after you're finished. We'll leave immediately."

"Yes ma'am," Agent Hagen gave her a two fingered salute.

"See you soon babe," AG gave Strike a peck on the lips.

"Tell you all about it when I come back," Strike promised, hugging her.

"I'll hold you to it."

Strike followed Agent Hagen through a series of long, white corridors. He saw quite a few people there, mostly Spyral agents, and a few families, mostly refugees.

Strike grinned; maybe he could 'strike' up a conversation "You know, rumor has it that you were with Talia Al Ghul. What happened; broke up?"

Agent Hagen gave him a sideways glance before saying "Yeah, you could say that. Besides, a Queen and the Head of her guard wouldn't have worked out anyway, especially since she has her own heir and kingdom." Talia Al Ghul had take over a small island-chain country in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It was a rich and prosperous country, rooting for global health care while being sideline ninjas to stop major world conflicts from breaking out or damaging the earth.

"Oh," he did feel a little awkward now "So…Task Force X…how you'd-"

"We're here," he interrupted. They stopped in front of a door with a large Bat symbol on it. "You'll enter a small room, and the door will lock behind you. You'll be identified before the next door will be opened. I can't come in; I have no access." With that, he turned on his heels, and walked away.

_Well, that was friendly_, Strike thought, watching the man disappeared behind a corner. He faced the door again, and this time, the easiness he felt before came back at full force. _Not ready, I'm not ready in the slightest. I _really_ don't want to talk about this._ But it would come up, sooner or later. No matter how far he ran away, he couldn't leave behind home forever. And returning home meant that sometimes, he had to face certain consequences. He let out a deep sigh. "Here goes nothing," he whispered, hand on the doorknob. After a moment's hesitation, he opened the door, entered, and quickly shut himself in. After the small _click_ of the lock, the lights turned off.

A green, laser grid descended from the ceiling, scanning his entire body. After it reached the floor, there was another click, and the door swung open in front of him.

As he stepped outside, he gasped; the scene before was rather surprising. The room opened up to the two stories, and he could see doors that no doubt led to personal rooms. Sunlight poured through a glass ceiling, giving off an ethereal feeling. He peered over the edge of the railing, and saw that it went down for three more stories, with what looked like a study covering the bottom floor. He could make out Nightwing's figure leaning against the desk, reading a file in his hand. Strike grinned to himself; might as well make a grand entrance. He jumped onto the railing, and leaned forward, free falling. He made sure to tuck himself into a ball as he made impacted, and rolled until he uncurled himself and stood in front of Nightwing, who was, much to his surprise, wearing a suit and tie with his domino mask. Of course, he merely grinned at Strike.

"Grand entrance," he commented "Looks like you're my trainee after all."

"No doubt," Strike took a step back, and crossed his arms "So, what'cha wanna talk to me for."

"This is a clear zone," Nightwing shut the file, and placed it on the desk behind him. "So we're free to talk about whatever we what to." In other words, they were most likely being recorded, so everything they talked about would need to be filtered and spoken in 'code'. "I want you to come with me on the Central City mission."

_I want you to go and meet your aunt while I do some 'business stuff'._ The words went unspoken, but Strike hated them anyway.

"I'm…busy." _No, I really don't want to._

"I know for a fact that you're free. Besides," He added in an attempt to joke "I'll try not to talk as much as I usually do." _You're on spring break; it's only for a few days. I'll _be there_ for you, kid._"

"No," he hesitated, but his answer was firm "I really don't want to go. I've got a date with AG." _Why the hell should I go and see someone who claims to have forgotten about me because of amnesia from a car accident._

"Hey, come on, it'll be fun; a good, different experience."_ She's changed; give it a shot._

Strike frowned, crossing his arms. "Fine," he said after a while, reluctantly. He was used to making impulsive decisions, though he thought this one out a bit while he was running. "But I want tacos when I get back. The kind from that really fancy restaurant, not the crappy ones you make."

Nightwing gave me a small, understanding smile "No problem. It's a deal."

Later that day, he and AG lay on the bed together, with the door wide open so that Red Hood wouldn't embarrass them by loudly asking to 'keep it down' or 'do you have protection', and to give both Nightwing and Mistress Magic (when she came back) assurance that no, he was not having sex with his girlfriend. It felt nice, just the two of them laying side-by-side, hands clasped, which both of them will deny if asked, staring up at the ceiling.

"So," he drawled out "What's going on in your life?"

"Took down a gang in Tampa Bay, Florida," she replied, "They were selling some sort of drugs. The Predators hooked up with Arrowette and Speedy," The two girls were Red and Green Arrows' trainees respectively "The drugs on being tested right now."

Strike frowned "Same thing with the Outlaws. I hooked up with them after I…ran…and, of course, I got knocked out. Grabbed a hold of some unknown drug substances; Nightwing's looking at the data results right now."

AG started laughing.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh at the guy who keeps on getting knocked out," Strike muttered.

"It's not that," she calmed down enough to speak between laughs "It's just that every time we meet, we're always talking about this part of our life. God, when was the last time we went on a date?"

"Two months ago," Strike sighed heavily "And you're right. All we talk about is work. We have no life." He bolted upright "We're not even sixteen yet, and we have no lives! What the hell? At this right, we'll go gray at twenty-five!"

"Strike, relax," Artemis sat up and bumped his shoulder "Besides, we'll be seeing more of each other now."

Strike smiled "Good; I could introduce you to my friends. Do you know how awkward it is to have a bunch of friends who believe that I pretend to have a girlfriend?"

She smirked "Well, who wouldn't? You're such a nerd, Strike."

"Am _not_!" Strike protested. Yeah, okay, he may possibly have gotten a doctorate, an honorary title by the American Science Society, for a few of his papers on Chemistry, Biology, Bio-tech, etc. so he's now know as 'Dr. Strike' in the scientific community, but that doesn't mean he didn't have a social life! He prioritizes! He has friends!

"Are you sure that your friends aren't as geeky as you are?" she teased, knowing what he was thinking. "Well, _Dr. Strike_, I say that you're on the path to becoming a mad scientist."

"I already _am_ a mad scientist," he corrected her. "It just so happens that I'm on the good guys' side."

"Babe, you look like a wimpy nerd," She was, of course, totally lying. He was pretty sure that he was a lot more packed that ninety-nine percent of the jocks at his school.

"Do _not!_"

AG just rolled her eyes "You never asked me why we'd be seeing more of each other."

Strike blinked and frowned in confusion "Because…we'll make a promise to make an effort to see each other more often?" _I mean, that's what girls want, right; an honest commitment to their relationship?_

He knew that he said the wrong thing when she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Okay," he said slowly, confused "Um…why would we be seeing more of each other?"

"I'm moving to Blüdhaven." When she hesitated, he knew that something was up.

"Aaand what's the full story?" he asked her.

"Agent K…eventually wants me to join Spyral. But, Tigress laid down the law that I'd be finishing college, make our family proud, and then do whatever the hell I want to. She and Agent K were still arguing about it when Hood and I left."

"But you don't want to join Spyral," Strike, searching his girlfriend's face.

"I don't know what I want to do," she admitted. "I mean, I'm not sure if I would still want to keep crime-fighting after I'm finished with high school. I mean, obviously I still want to do it, I mean I'm wearing my costume and everything and someone has to look after my sisters and make sure that they don't do anything stupid."

"Naturally," Strike grinned. He gently pushed her on her back and hovered over her, holding himself up by leaning on his elbows "_Buuuuut_, since we have who-knows-how-long, why don't we make the most of it, yeah?"

"Yeah," AG smiled her grey eyes lightly up "Why don't we?"

Strike responded by kissing her.


	4. Mission Statements

Chapter Three

(Nightwing POV)

He immediately put the files he was reading down as soon the tall, slim figure of his wife popped into existence just a few feet away from him. "Hey," he rushed over as soon as she started to sway. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"I'm fine, just an excess amount of magic being used," Mistress Magic replied as he gently lowered them onto the floor "I delivered Batman's message. And you really need to talk to Red Hood about his use of explosives. Aquaman was seriously injured."

"It's probably just the Leaguers moaning about a little cut," Nightwing smiled at her. However, she just raised her eyebrow.

"Don't underestimate the people you hate," she told him.

"I should probably keep that in mind," he helped her up, and into the chair behind the desk. He stayed by her side, squeezing her shoulder "Did…did you see him?"

She grasped his hand tightly "Yeah," she said in a quiet voice. "Oh god, I hate that bastard."

"Hey, shhh," Nightwing wrapped his wife's shoulders. He kissed the top of her head. "It's all in the past, sweetheart. Don't worry about."

"I will have to worry about it," Mistress Magic replied, resting her head against her husband's shoulders. "Love, I have a bad feeling about this."

"Yeah," Nightwing muttered into her hair "So do I." He let go, and returned his attention to the file on the desk. "I read the reports on both the drugs found in Tampa Bay and Richmond. Crossed referenced them with the reports sent by the Hood, El Gaucho, Nightrunner, Mister Unknown, Black Bat, and even from Tempest. They're all the same."

"London, Paris, Argentina, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Atlantis," Mistress Magic frowned "But nothing at all from the Congo?"

"None; which makes it suspicious," Nightwing sighed, and crossed his arms. "Batman's really suspicious of this. Spyral's keeping a few agents on the lookout for anything related to the Cult of the Kobra. Dr. Waller's decided to keep the Suicide Squad out of it until the Justice League gets sucked into this."

"Which means that they'll be no help at all," Mistress Magic leaned forward on the desk. Nightwing placed the reports on the desk, and silently tapped a large, highlighted section of the final report. Her eyes widened in recognition.

Softly, she said "Ah, Central City. So, Waller's getting sucked into this, after all."

"Unless it threatens humanity, she won't make her move. Batman is making sure of it." Nightwing replied "I'll have to update Archer Green and Strike on the new developments. They've…well I gave them a little time to themselves." Translated, it meant: I let Artemis spend a little time with Wally instead of getting debriefed, and I haven't told Wally the other half of the reason that I wanted him to meet his aunt.

Mistress Magic sighed, shaking her head at her husband's antics. "What are we going to do with you?" She leaned forward to kiss him.

It wasn't a sound, but a really loud (ironically enough) presence that caught his attention. He broke away first, and turned around to come face to face with Batman. He winced slightly, even though his adopted father was a good ten feet away. "Geez, Big B, scare the crap out of us, will you?" Nightwing flustered, feeling a lot like a kid who got caught stealing from the cookie jar.

Batman didn't reply, just starting at Nightwing. And they stood there for a good few moments. "So," Nightwing managed to break the silence. He could sense his wife trying not to laugh. "Where's the little guy?"

The answer came in the form of a small body slamming into him from behind. Adjusting quickly, he twisted, and brought pinned the red-clad, young vigilante beneath him. "Hey, there Robin," Nightwing grinned at his youngest successor.

"Get off," Robin said between gritted teeth. Of course, Nightwing heard the crack in his voice, and his grinned widened at the thirteen year old.

"Aw, someone's finally hit puberty!"

"Enough," Batman ordered "We have a meeting with Agent K."

"Thought I smelled a high dose of mysteriousness and fear," Strike commented, appearing out of a room with Archer Green right behind him. Their uniforms only looked slightly ruffled, so Nightwing was glad he didn't have to worry about grandchildren at his age.

"What's this meeting about?" AG asked, placing a hand on her waist. Batman didn't answer; he just turned and head for the door. "Very informative," she said sarcastically.

The small group filed out after him. Nightwing attentively paid attention to the corridors as they quickly passed by. They didn't really encounter a lot of people, just a few Spyral agents who quickly moved out of the way as soon as they saw Batman. Finally, the Dark Knight opened the door at the end of the corridor (probably nearly the center of the craft), and a very classy room appeared before them. There was a large desk at the far end, with huge monitor behind it. Three couches formed a U around a round coffee-table in the center. Red Hood, Tigress and even Cheshire were already sitting down. An elderly looking woman, in her fifties with red hair peppered with gray, sat behind the desk, not bothering to look up as the group marched inside.

"Lex Corp is hosting a business meet-and-greet sort of party," she started immediately, writing something on her desk "VIPs all over. Last I heard, Wayne Corporation will be sending in representatives as well."

"You heard correctly," Batman stated.

Nightwing glanced over at Strike. The outsider would see a blank look on his face, but he knew him well enough to see the gears turning and clicking in his head as he made theories and connected the dots. He felt pride swell in his chest; Strike was a pretty smart kid. But he'd have time to dwell on that fact later. The mission came first now. He lifted the folder in his hands "I have information on the drugs apprehended in Florida and Virginia, as well as analysis for drugs apprehended elsewhere."

"Drugs created by the Cult of the Kobra, with apparently the aid of Lex Corp scientists," Batman added "And then distributed by Bane and his connections."

"So they're all related," Tigress stated, crossing her arms.

"Yes," the woman, Agent K, finally lifted her head, and found herself staring at Batman "Do you know what that means?"

Batman stared emotionlessly (most likely) at her, before turning to face the rest of them. "The following will not leave this room." He said sternly in a way only he could achieve.

* * *

(Strike POV)

Strike tensed; whatever he said would probably connect the dots with the completely random connection. The Cult of the Kobra had worked together with Lex Luthor? Something was definitely wrong there. The two were entirely separate, and up until this point, he thought that they didn't even know the other existed.

Agent K began "Fourteen months ago, Lex Luthor's creation, Connor Luthor, had managed to steal files from the Justice League's computer, before the League members caught on, and managed to fend him off. However, file regarding the identity of a few Justice League members was leaked, including the Flash."

"The Flash, aka Barry Allen," Nightwing added. "You had some of your agents' tail him, after Batman gave you the heads up."

"I did," she dipped her chin in agreement.

"Barry Allen was a key member of the Central City police department," Batman continued, "One of their best forensic scientists. He left work around a year ago, under the guise that Lex Corp, who offered him a job, had provided a better salary. Not three months later, he earned enough to buy a house. After he joined, Lex Corp seemed to take an unusual interest in medicinal drugs. Moreover, the Spyral agents have found out that Allen wasn't on the Lex Corps' company payroll. He was directly taking money out of Luthor's pocket."

"Not including all of the drugs apprehended by various Bats," Nightwing said "Contacts in the League have indicated that strange bio signs coming from some of the members. These members were matched up with the stolen identities. Everyone, except for the Flash, had displayed strange signals."

"So Luthor is threatening Allen with his secret identity," Strike concluded, his head spinning. "Can I see that file?" Batman handed him the file, and Strike quickly flipped through the analysis. He whistled.

"Damn," he said softly, "This sucks."

"What is it?" A.G asked.

"Nanotechnology, combined with chemistry, and used to control the person's minds." Strike said. "This is some really advanced stuff, but it takes them a few months to settle in. The basic formula for this would work on any human, but since some of the League was drugged with it, than that means some of it was altered to fit with meta and non humans. No wonder Luthor needed Allen's help; as a scientist and a man with a family, Allen was the perfect candidate for this."

"So Luthor was to create an army?" Red Hood observed "He's getting impatient if he injected the Leaguers first."

"Which leads to mistakes," Batman agreed. "And this mistake means that Luthor is getting both impatient and too eager. But something big is at play here, and we don't have all the details."

"But why call us?" A.G pointed out "Why us?"

"You'll be assigned to this mission," Batman said, dodging the question, "Along with Red Robin and Batgirl. This is your objective; find out what Barry Allen is doing for Lex Luthor, stop the creation of anymore drugs, and disinfect anyone who had been given the drug."

Strike slightly tuned out at that point, reading the file in his hand. At least five Leaguers and a lot more of the mini-Leaguers were injected. No one else was, as far as they could see.

Well, two things were for sure; they had their work cut out for them, and he was really hungry right now.

* * *

(New York City)

(Red Robin POV)

He watched with narrow eyes as the figure darted through the shadows of the rather quiet streets of New York City, getting closer and closer to his position. The figure stopped suddenly, just out of reach of the streetlamp light, his body stiffening, as if he had sensed someone spying on him.

'Senses are just as good as his biological family's' Red Robin mentally noted 'Wonder if he'll say something.'

"I know you're watching!" The figure below nearly bellowed.

The newest NYC Bat, Falcon, waited patiently for his next move, crouching quietly next to him. She had already been out for a few months, and so far, she was doing pretty well. He motioned for her to stay there, before jumping onto the other side of the streetlight. A pale yellow cone of light was all that lay between him and the figure in front of him. He could barely make out the features, but he knew the face well enough despite this being their first meeting.

"Who are you," the figure demanded.

"First of all," Red Robin said, raising a finger "Don't shout, you don't know who's around. Second of all," he put up another finger "I think you know who I am."

There was a pause, before the figure replied "Red Robin."

"Yeah," Red Robin put his hand down.

"And the newest Bat, Falcon," the figure continued much to his surprised "She's right up there, waiting for your signal."

Red Robin smirked "I'm impressed." Falcon landed right behind him. "But I shouldn't really expect anything less of you, Connor Luthor."

The figure stepped out into the light, and Red Robin returned the favor. He stared at the young man, really a little older than a toddler in human standards but roughly eighteen in appearance, stared right back at him, seizing him up. Connor Luthor looked a lot like Clark Kent, and his complete clone Kevin Kent, a little like his 'cousin' Kara Kent. But unlike those two, Connor was half human and half Kryptonian. His human donor was Lex Luthor.

"So, tell me Connor," Red Robin brought out his bo-staff, spun it around in one hand, before slamming it onto the street. He blames his flair of drama solely on Nightwing. "Why were you seeking out the Bat Clan for the past few months?" But getting straight to the point was something he got from Batman.

"Why did the Bat Clan release me Lex Luthor's mind control?"

"You weren't completely under his control," Red Robin explained "Only partially, and only enough so that you wouldn't really question Luthor so much, so that you'd follow his orders regarding the League. Leaving him was your choice."

"Lex is a good man," Connor instantly defended his pseudo-father.

"He is," Red Robin agreed "He does care about the people who work under him. And sometimes, he'll be nice to competition. But you know as well as I do that he tends to go overboard…crazy. That he has the desire for complete control, where everything is under this thumb. He won't hesitate to use any means necessary to get what he wants, including murder, theft, chaos, etc." He paused.

After a heartbeat, Connor narrowed his eyes and replied "I know, that's…why I left."

"And you tried to reconcile with the League, but they refused you," Red Robin continued "Because there were already two Supers on Young Justice. There was too much bad blood between you and all of the Supers. They tried to-"

"I know what they tried to do," unconsciously, Connor put his hand over his heart. The League tried to shut him down, using what they knew about clones. "That's why I sought you guys out. Rumor has it that you take in broken people."

'So he probably heard about The Predators,' Red Robin thought. The Predators were the most public case regarding the Clan, at least in the criminal world. It was a story of how three sisters, abused by their parents, and to an extant their brother, and how they decided to break off and join the Clan. It took a while before Batman was sure that they were completely loyal to the Clan. Of course, research was done before they decided to join. Regardless, they were cut off from their family, which was quite extensive.

"You wanna join?" Falcon asked, speaking up for the first time. Red Robin smirked at the slight hint of surprise in her voice.

Connor paused, and for a moment he looked conflicted. Then his face hardened, and he answered confidently "Yeah."

Red Robin stared at the ice-blue eyes, which the young clone had inherited completely from his human father. They were filled with determination, and Red Robin felt that, ignoring all the evidence he gathered in favor of Connor joining, he would make a good member. But of course, there were protocols and other things he had to do in order to join. Reaching into his belt, still staring at Connor, he pulled out a rather thick envelope.

"You have a lot of things to cover before you can join," He tossed it to Connor, who caught it easily enough "And a lot of tests. Then, we'll see."

As Connor opened the envelope, Red Robin and Falcon melted away into the shadows, as they were taught. But despite their speedy and silent exit, Red Robin was pretty sure that Connor heard them leave. While they were swinging away, on the alert of catching criminals, Falcon spoke up. "Are you actually taking up Spoiler's suggestion for a threesome? Because you were totally eye-fucking that guy."

Needless to say, Red Robin almost lost his grip, and swung into a pole.


	5. List of Heros

**Hey guys! So powergirl1 asked for who's in what group, so I thought I'd just give you guys a list! Please note that some will be taken or taken out or rearranged later on. Other groups will be added later on.**

* * *

_**Bat Clan: **_*Titans, OC

**Gotham City:**

Batman- Bruce Wayne

*Robin-Damian Al Ghul Wayne

Batwoman-Kate Kane

Flamebird-Bette Kane

Catwoman-Selena Kyle

*Catgirl-Holly Robinson Kyle

*Abuse- Collin Wilkes

**New York:**

Beyond- Terry McGinnis

*Red Robin- Tim Drake-Wayne

*Spoiler- Stephanie Brown

*Falcon\- Anna Wayne

**Blüdhaven:**

Nightwing –Dick Grayson-Wayne

Mistress Magic- Zee Grayson-Wayne

*Strike- Wally Grayson

Batgirl-Babs Gordon

**Star City:**

Green Arrow- Ollie Queen

Red Arrow-Roy Harper

*Speedy- Mia Deardon

*Arrowette- Cissie King-Jones

**Predators:**

Cheshire-Jade Nguyen

*Tigress\- Lian Nguyen

*Archer Green- Artemis Nguyen

**The Outlaws:**

Red Hood- Jason Todd Wayne

*Arsenal- Will Harper

Huntress-Helena Bertinelli

**Bat Inc.**

Batwing of Congo- David Zavimbe

The Hood of England- George Cross

El Gaucho of Argentina- Santiago Vargas

Nightrunner of Paris- Bilal Asselah

Mister Unknown of Tokyo- Jiro Osamu

*Black Bat of Hong Kong- Cassandra Cain

*Tempest of Atlantis- Kaldur'ahm

* * *

**Justice League:**

Superman-Clark Kent/Kal-El

Wonder Woman-Diana Prince

Green Lantern John Stewart

Flash-Barry Allen

Martain Manhunter- John Jones/J'onn J'onzz

Hawkwoman-Shayera Hol

Hawkman-Carter Hol

Aquaman-King Orin

Green Lantern Hal Jordon

Black Canary- Dinah Laurel Lance

Captain Marvel-Billy Batson

Red Tornado-John Smith

Captain Atom-Nathanial C. Adams

Dr. Fate- (It's a surprise, if you haven't read my earlier version ;-) )

The Atom- Dr. Ray Palmer

Icon- Augustus Freeman

Plasticman- Patrick "Eel" O'Brian

Black Lightning- Jefferson Pierce

Cyborg- Victor Stone

Animal Man- Berhard "Buddy" Baker

Rocket- Raquel Ervin

**Young Justice**

Superboy- Kevin Kent/ Kon-El

Supergirl- Kara Zor-El/Kara Kent

Wondergirl- Cassie Sandmark

Kid Flash- Bart Allen

Miss Martian- Megan Morse/ M'gann M'orzz

Aqualad- Garth

Aquagirl- Tula

Lagoon Boy- La'gaan

Bumblebee-Karen Beecher

Blue Beetle- Jaime Reyes

Static- Virgil Hawkins

Chief- Tye Longshadow

Mist- Eduardo Dorado Jr.

Speed- Asami "Sam" Kiozumi


	6. Arrival

Chapter Four: Arrivals

(Wally's POV)

All it took to get from a flying metal hub in the sky to a buried metal hub in the ground was a transportation spell, right after the Dynamic Duo left first. The Predators left to go on their own mission via helicopter, while Red Hood decided to crash at their place. Strike blinked a few times after the interior of Agent K's room swirled away into the Night-Cave; a secret, completely underground lair was a few hundred feet the actual Grayson household. As soon as his head stopped spinning, he immediately zipped over to the couch, and plopped down on it, took off his mask and became Wally Grayson, the awkward teen.

"Let me see your head," Zatanna, or Zee as she was usually called, said gently, with her mask off as well. Wally sat upright as she placed the tips of her fingers on either side. Her eyes closed for a moment, before she opened them.

And she slapped him in the back of my head.

"Ow!" Wally cried, rubbing the sore spot, "I mean, I totally deserved that."

"Yes you do," She grabbed him, and hugged him tightly, almost to the point where he couldn't breathe.

"Well, I guess I'll just leave the three of you to your family bonding," Jason said, placing both his helmet and his domino mask on the table.

"What, like you're not a part of this family," Dick grabbed Jason by the neck, giving him a noogie.

Jason threw Dick over his shoulder, pinning him down. "Shut-up, Dickie-Bird, I've got a niece to see."

Zee finally let Wally go. "Finally," he gasped, pretending that he was nearly choked to death "I can breathe."

"Oh hush you," Zee kissed his head "I should check on Maria as well. Dick, Wally, dinner's in an hour."

Wally didn't look up as Dick and Jason agreed, though Jason asked if dinner could be a little earlier. He stayed quiet as he heard the Zeta tubes, a form of transportation that allowed one to go anywhere in the world as long as the weather permits it, beam the two up to the basement. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes; he felt Dick sit down next to him.

"You ran off before I could mention the mission," Dick said softly.

Wally snorted "You should have said the mission first, and then the fact that I had to stay over with my aunt."

He chuckled humorlessly "Well, I guess even after all these years, I'm still getting used to being a parent."

"You're fine," Wally assured his adoptive father. "Everyone makes mistakes." He quoted Dick from when he talked to him years ago, back when Wally was still training and had messed up a mission big time.

He placed his hand on his shoulder and squeezed it "You came a long way, Wally. I'm proud of you."

Wally's hearts swelled with pride "Thanks."

"But, you're grounded."

"What!?"

"Until the Central City mission is over. You have no idea how much you scared Zee and I when you ran off. We couldn't find you for three days Wally and then Harper calls in saying that you and Jason were kidnapped. What were we supposed to think?"

"I've been gone for a much longer time," Wally crossed his arms, thinking that a month of being grounded was too much "Back when you first adopted me."

"That was years ago," Dick's tone softened "And the last time you ran away was nearly seven months ago."

"Why do you really want me on this mission?" Wally demanded "I mean it has to be more than just the convenience of me having a biological member readily available. You guys could have someone else go there."

"Because you're one of the best scientific minds in the country and you're only fifteen." Dick put his hand on his shoulder. "Wally, sources say that the drug that's been recovered from all over the world has been injected into a few Leaguers, and a few of the members of their mini League. Moreover, there's been a recent increase in collaborations between Bane and the Cult of the Kobra, even though we know for a fact that the two hate each other. We know for sure that your uncle-"

"He's not my uncle," Wally stubbornly insisted.

"Is the Flash," Dick continued, "And he's one of the members infected. It'd be easier to cure him now."

Normally, Wally wouldn't really care about the Justice League or their juniors. But, unfortunately, since the rest of the world thought they actually did something highly productive (not including the times that they actually saved the earth from being conquered or destroyed or the human race from being enslaved) Wally sighed "Run the mission by me again," he asked wearily, looking up at Dick for the first time since the start of the conversation.

Dark blue eyes stared back at him "The objective is to disinfect anyone who has been drugged, as well as take down the members of the Cult who'd be there. The Flash, along with the League junior members have been injected with this after a mission gone wrong a few months ago. You are to take blood samples of each affected member, as well as taking down notes on their behavior, before and after they've been injected with the antidote. You have ten days to finish your mission, with the Predators, Red Robin, and Batgirl there to help you."

"That's still a lot," Wally sound whiny, even to his own ears.

"You can do it," Dick grinned at him "Wally, you still have a lot to learn, but I know you can do this. Besides, your task is to focus more on gathering data, and providing back-up to the others. Babs will be there to help you whenever you need her."

Feeling a little more heartened, Wally smiled back at him "Fine, but I don't really see what I get out of this," he joked.

"I'm doing all of your spring break homework, as well as helping your friends manage the t-shirt company you guys set up to help pay for Erica's bills," his tone serious.

Wally's mouth dropped.

Dick would never let him skive off on homework, even taking him off missions to finish it. It annoyed Wally to no end sometimes. As for the t-shirt company, it was really a small business he and his friends started in order to help Erica's family pay for her medical bills. Erica has cancer. Dick did help when the business first started, but as time grew on, he weaned off his help. Wally couldn't really let a deal like this go; it was a once in a life-time opportunity.

"Deal," he said, slightly dazed by the offer.

"Great," Dick stood up and stretched, "Let's go eat dinner; I'm hungry. The sandwiches we had for lunch didn't really last long."

* * *

(One month later)

It was weird, to be honest. They left at eleven o'clock that morning, only to arrive at….eleven o'clock. Of course, these were the benefits of having one of the fastest Wayne jets at your disposal, sort of. Other than himself, it was Artemis, his beautiful girlfriend, her two sisters, Lian and Jade the pilot, who would most certainly kill him and make it look like an accident if he hurt Artemis, Babs, his fellow fiery red head who was not as handicapped as she appeared, and Tim, the only one who was calm and collected, as well as being neck-to-neck with Jason in the most-likely-Bat-to-become-a-serial-killer awards.

"It's like no time had passed at all," Wally yawned as he pressed his face against the window. "Oh, I can finally feel the sun." Being grounded for a month meant that even patrols were limited to an hour. He actual had time to lay on his bed and start finishing his other projects, such as writing an research paper on the theory of completely changing an atom's nature, and experimenting on how long he could stare at that dot on his bedroom ceiling without blinking. The record was two minutes, he was proud to declare.

"Oh please, stop over reacting," Artemis smacked him behind the head.

"Everyone remembers the plan," Tim asked, for the millionth time, unusually nervous.

"Yeah, yeah," Jade waved him off, as she emerged from the cabin "We go it, don't worry."

"Right, so if you need anything-"

"Contact Babs," everyone in the room chorused together.

Time flushed "Right. Let's go, Wally."

Wally turned to hug and kiss Artemis "Call, text, swoop in by helicopter," Wally muttered into his girlfriend's ear.

"You too," she whispered back before letting go. The plan was that Tim, Wally, and Jade would go on ahead, dropping Wally off at his aunt's house. The others would sneak out of the plane at night, escape through the hangar in the dark with their luggage, and make it to the car that would be waiting for them. Wally grabbed his suitcase and his backpack, before following Tim down the air stairs, and into the rather blinding light. Two cars were waiting for them, as well as Lex Luthor and Mercy, his assistant and personal guard.

"Ah, Mr. Drake," Lex Luthor gave them a friendly, polite, and completely fake smile, stepping up to shake Tim's hand.

"Mr. Luthor," Tim responded, just as friendly "I didn't expect to see you here."

"It'd be rude if I hadn't met the most aspiring young man in the business world," Luthor replied. "Although, I must admit that I was expecting Thomas Wayne to arrive as well."

Thomas Wayne Junior was Bruce's young brother, who prefers to be called 'Mr. Junior' so it'd be easier for people to tell the difference between him and his older brother. "I'm afraid Mr. Junior's a little under the weather." Tim replied easily "However, he sends his regards, and promises to arrive at your party, if a little late."

"Please send him my best wishes," Luthor glanced up at Wally, who suddenly felt unconscious in his appearance. Everyone there was wearing formal suit and ties. He stood out like a sore thumb with his blue jeans, green Converse, a black t-shirt, and green plaid shirt over it. He heard Jade come up behind them, no doubt carrying Tim's luggage if only to play the part. "Mercy, why don't you take Mr. West's luggage into their limousine?" Luthor ordered his robot assistant.

"It's Wally, if you don't mind." Wally said immediately. He hated it when people used his former last name. "And it's alright, I can-"

"Thank-you for the offer, Mr. Luthor," Tim cut him off, giving Wally a warning glance. He turned toward Jade, and used her pseudo name when he asked "Jennifer, take my luggage to the car?" Wally silently fumed as Mercy took his luggage, and followed behind Jade. "We too, should get going, Mr. Luthor. I'd rather not take up more of your time."

Whether or not Luthor believed in Tim's charm he couldn't tell, but Wally felt a huge relief as soon as Luthor politely agreed, and then returned to his own car, with Mercy following close behind him. "What was that for?" He quietly demanded to Tim as they made their way to their car. "Mercy probably put microphones or something on them."

"She wouldn't dare," Tim replied, thanking Jade for opening the door. Once seated inside, he continued "Besides, civvies don't decline Lex Luthor's offer unless they're the Wayne brothers. Even then, it's only when curtsy allows it to."

"Jeez, what are we, royalty?" Wally joked, though he knew that in reality, he wasn't far off from the truth. It seemed that the upper class life of any country in the world was always associated with nobility and the stupid rules they had to follow.

"If you look back at human history, you're really not far off," Tim replied, taking out his phone to check something. "Unfortunately, being rich originally meant power and influence."

"Well, not all of us are born into the nobility," Jade jabbed in the front, poking at the fact that Tim was born into a rich family, and adopted into a rich family.

"Has his Lordship taken his medication today?" Wally prodded Tim in his side. "You seem a bit peckish and nervous."

Before the older boy could reply, Tim's phone buzzed and he pulled it out, checking the message. Tim smirked, before telling Wally "Change of plans." He leaned forward to tap Jade on the shoulder "We need to drop Wally off at the nearest bus stop." Turning to Wally, he explained "There's someone I promised to meet if they came into the city. Here's a bus ticket" he pulled out a small ticket with Wally's name printed on it "It only goes up until the outer limits of the city. You'll have to get a cab and go to your aunt's house."

"Who're you meeting?" Wally asked, confused. If Tim planned ahead to but Wally a ticket, then he's defiantly meeting someone important.

"He's like a client," Tim smiled, and Wally suddenly wondered if it was a good idea to leave Jade alone with a potential homicidal maniac. Of course, Jade was a potential too. Come to think of it, the majority of the Bats were.

"Which one?" Jade questioned. Both Tim and Dick had a reputation for recruiting new Bats and employees for Wayne Incorporated. It was Tim who convinced the three Nguyen sisters, Jade, Lian, and Artemis, to join the Bats, "Business or business?"

"Business," Tim replied easily. He suddenly pointed out of the window. "There, that's the bus stop."

They left shortly afterwards, only staying long enough to let Wally get this bags and stand by the bus stand. The only other person who was there was a pregnant lady with a few shopping bags. Wally, deciding to pass the time while he waited for the bus, called out "Excuse ma'am, but is there anyone with you?"

The woman looked surprised to be addressed. "Oh, well um, it's just me. My husband's flying in today from Moscow tonight. I thought I get a little shopping done before he comes."

"Oh," he paused for a moment, and then he offered "Would you like me to carry some of those bags for you? I don't mind."

"Oh no, no, no, it's fine," she smiled "Besides, you already have things to carry." Wally insisted, and in the end he won out. After the bus came, he grabbed a few bags, and climbed into the bus after her.

They talked the entire bus ride, and Wally was surprised to find out that her husband used to be an officer in the Blüdhaven Police Department. After they found out that the woman, whose name was Martha, was pregnant, they decided to move to Central City, and her husband, Alan, got a job as a security guard for the Central City branch of Wayne Tech. He told her that he was visiting his aunt, that his name was Wally, and that he'd be staying in Central for a few days. At her stop, he helped bring her bags down, and get into a taxi. Surprisingly enough, the driver was waiting for him.

"One good turn deserves another," the driver gave him a really toothy smile.

Huh, Wally wasn't really used to such generosity.

His stop was the last one on the bus route, and it was already twelve in the afternoon by the time he got down. Fortunately, there was a nearby taxi service area, and he managed to grab one. "32 Boulevard Lane," he told the driver, as he shoved his bags inside with him.

"You travelling alone, kid?" the driver asked, frowning.

"I can take care of myself," Wally smirked, and slightly marveled at the huge difference between Central and Blüdhaven. In Central, people were nicer and seemed to care about what you did, in case you got hurt or something. In Blüdhaven, people didn't really question what you did, in case they got hurt. And yes, there were millions of reasons why people should fear getting hurt.

"Going home?" the driver asked.

"Visiting my aunt," Wally answered truthfully. Not that the driver could have much use for it anyway. "I grew up in 'Haven. This city's the Garden of Eden compared to that."

"Blüdhaven you mean? Heard there was lots of crazy folks there," the driver shook his head in disbelief "Don't they worship bats there or something?"

"Worship bats?" whoa, he actually never heard that one before "Nah, we don't. But we have our own superheroes."

"Oh yeah?" the driver seemed to be unnaturally curious "How come we never heard of them?"

Wally wasted no time in answering "Cause everyone's too busy noticing the people who do magic tricks and wear colorful tights."

The driver chuckled "Seems about right." Both of them passed the rest of the journey in silence. Wally texted both Dick and Zee, telling them not to worry and that he was heading over to his aunt's house right now.

He used the silence as a time to think, mentally running over everything that he had brought over for the mission, whether his stuff was safe or not, and how he could manage getting the blood samples and such. But his mind wandered over to think about his aunt. Born Katherine West, granddaughter of two Irish immigrants, she was now known as Iris West-Allen. Because there was a car crash, her memory suffered and she slowly regained it over the past few years. She fell in love and married Bartholomew "Barry" Allen, a forensic scientist whose alter ego was The Flash, a founding member of the Justice League. Wally never liked the Flash, and he had his own, very good reasons for it. Iris became a very popular news reporter, and a huge fan of the Flash. She had a step-son name Bart, aka Kid Flash, and a daughter, Wally's cousin, named Bella.

She was also the woman who smiled at him and told him that his parents were having it a little rough and that everything would get better. She lied to him, she didn't listen to him. It's no wonder she fell in love and married a Leaguer; the Justice League never listened carefully.

He blinked in surprised when the taxi stopped right in front of a modest, urban home. He arrived a lot sooner than he expected. Wally thanked the driver, paid and tipped him, and stood at the beginning of the front path that led up to the yard. For a moment, he was afraid. He didn't want to see her, not at all. He didn't want to look into eyes that were so much like his biological father's, the one who beat him up and trashed him and abused him. He couldn't face the woman who neglected him, so focused on her own career that she was blind to see what was really going on.

Think of the mission, he told himself. That's all this is, just another mission. Think about the mission, Wally. He took and deep breath, found his resolve to not disappoint Dick, Zee, or any of the other Bats on this mission, and took and step forward. It felt as if his body had a mind of its own, and he felt it mechanically move closer and closer to the front door. And up the steps he went, and stopped right in front of the door.

With a slightly shaking hand, he rang the doorbell.

There were several crashes inside, followed by lots of "I'll get it!" and "Hey". He smiled, and then frowned; did his aunt forget, or did he arrive at the wrong house? Or maybe, he was caught by a villain and given a hallucinate drug and he was imagining the entire thing. As he racked his mind for to see if he'd been drugged, the door opened to reveal a girl about a year or two older than him, with reddish, shoulder-length hair, and freckles across her nose, just like him. Her brown eyes widened in surprise at him.

"Um, I may have gotten the wrong house," Wally began, playing the role of a confused boy who was trying to find the house of a woman he didn't like. He had recognized her immediately; Miss Martian. It would be interesting to know her civvie name though. "I'm looking for Iris West-Allen."

"Oh," Miss Martian blinked in surprised again "Um, why, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Yeah, she's uh my aunt," He winced "I'm supposed to stay for Spring Break."

"You came to the right address," Miss Martian smiled, and opened the door for him a little wider. "Please, come in." As he stepped inside, he could hear loud voices coming from the house. A quick scan let him guess that it was coming from the living room, probably.

"Did she tell you that I was coming?" Wally asked. His mind felt weird, like someone was checking it. Slightly panicking, he quickly formed a barrier with the thoughts 'Damn it, I told Dad that this was a bad idea. She probably forgot me like she did last time.

The weirdness left.

"Well, no," Miss Martian admitted "But, I mean she could have told Barry, um your uncle that is. He probably forgot to tell us."

"Is she home?" Wally asked, feeling that this was getting more awkward as time went on.

"Oh yeah she is!" Miss Martian smacked her hand against her head "Hello Megan! I'll just go and get her. What's your name again?"

Wally had to admit that she was adorable. He'd flirt with her if he hadn't already a girlfriend. "I'm Wally."

"I'll be right back Wally!" She walked into a room, and Wally could have sworn that she was ever so slightly above ground. He only had to wait for five seconds before Iris West-Allen appeared, looking only slighter older from the last time he saw her six years ago. Her hair had outgrown its crop-style, and she wore a simple black t-shirt with another blue shirt over it, and blue jeans. Her red hair, so much like Wally's, was tied up in a ponytail. A toddler, around Maria's (Dick and Zee's daughter) age, waddled after her, peeping curiously at Wally behind Iris' legs. She had olive green eyes that looked a lot like Wally's, to be honest, with red hair. Behind them, a tall man in his mid to late thirties appeared.

"Wally," Iris stared at him for a moment.

Wally looked away for a moment, startled at seeing his abuser's eyes, before taking a breath and looking up at her "Hi."

She smiled at him, if a little awkward "Hi. It's…been awhile."

"Yeah, no kidding," He then asked "Um…I couldn't help but notice that there're other people in the house." He cringed; oh god how did that even sound good in his head?

Barry broke the awkward silence with an even more awkward laugh "That's my fault, by the way. I forgot that you were coming, so I let Bart invite a few of his friends. Iris was furious when she found out. I'm Barry, by the way, Barry Allen."

Barry stepped forward to shake his hand. "Wally Grayson," Wally shook his hand "Nice to meet you." If Barry noticed that he called himself a Grayson instead of a West, he didn't say anything.

"How about you show Wally to where he's staying?" Iris suggested. "I'll go tell the others you're here," she added to Wally. Megan and the little girl followed Iris into another room across the one they just came out of.

Wally let Barry take his suitcase, and followed him up the stairs. "I guess you and Iris haven't seen each other in a lot time, have you?" Barry attempted to make a conversation.

"Yeah, it's been awhile," Wally replied, taking a look around the décor "Six years."

Barry whistled "Long time." They turned down the hallway and into a small guest room. It was plain and a lot smaller than he was used to, but he had to camp out in a creaky shack in India for two weeks once, so he wasn't really complaining.

"Cozy," he commented, setting his backpack down on the bed.

"Listen, Wally," Barry started. Wally perked up, wondering what he'd have to say "I don't know if you know, but a few years back, Iris got into an accident, and lost her most of her memories. They're slowly coming back one by one, and it was a miracle to her that she remembered you. It took a while to find out the whole story, about your…adoption and the events that led up to it."

"So, she called Dick, and got the whole story from him?" Wally asked. Slightly panicking, he asked "Does she want me to stay with her?"

"No, no," Barry said immediately "I mean, I'm not really sure. But Wally, if you're comfortable where you are right now, then I'm sure Iris doesn't want to take you away from that."

Wally could hear another 'but' in his voice, and ignored it. "Thanks," Wally smiled genuinely appreciating that Barry was making an effort here, despite his actions, if unintended, in the past. He stood up and stretched "Well, to be honest, I'm kind of hungry. Is lunch ready?"

Barry laughed "Yeah me too. Iris was just checking up on the Dublin Coddle. We should get going, so that you can get introduced to everyone before lunch."

Wally's mouth watered. Dublin Coddle was a traditional Irish dish that he hadn't eaten in years. It was sausage, bacon, onion, and potato hot pot, and one of the very few goods things he remembered about Iris. "Cool," he pulled out his phone "I'll just text Dick and Zee to let them know I'm here."

Barry clapped him on the shoulder "I'll see you in a few." Wally pretended to text them until Barry was out of the room. He waited a moment, before putting his bag down, and pulled out a black notebook. He sat down on the bed, and scribbled a few notes, before shoving it in his backpack and heading downstairs, ready to face the fire.


	7. Welcoming Committee

Chapter Five: The Welcoming Committee

(Ra's Al Ghul POV)

A sleek, black limo raced through the streets of Metropolis, uncaring to the rest of the world. The two occupants inside faced each other, neither one willing to back down.

"I have great respect of the Detective," Ra's Al Ghul took another sip of the wine he was poured, staring into the ice-blue eyes of Lex Luther.

"The man, as you have said, rejected your offer several times," Luther pointed out, not breaking his gaze as he looked into cold, heartless grey eyes "A man who has thwarted your plans over and over again."

Ra's looked outside, his ageless eyes not missing a single thing as Metropolis darted past them for several, quiet moments "I do not like our…associate for this venture."

"He's certainly not as deadly as all of us put together," Luther commented, raised an eyebrow as he took a sip of wine.

"No; he's worse," Ra's looked his collogue in the eye once more. "I have once made a deal with this man; it resulted in far too many deaths than I like, far too much destruction. The world is pointless to gain if there are not many people left. It will become a power struggle between us."

"We do not want the whole world," Luther countered "Just one big part of it."

Ra's lip curled in slight disgust at his colleague's naivety. But he accepted it nevertheless. "Very well; but I warn you, this deal will cause much more pain and destruction then required. The trouble I went through to break him out," his eyes glared into Luther's eyes "I do hope it's worth it."

"It will be," Luther assured him firmly. A few moments passed in silence, both the man and the demon waiting for the other to speak. Finally, Luther asked "Phase one of the first plan is all set. I trust that your associates are ready?"

"They are," Ra's guaranteed "The plan goes on, for tonight and tomorrow."

"The plan goes on," Luther affirmed. Simultaneously, the two raised their glasses together, a silent, yet deadly pact solidifying between them.

* * *

(Wally POV)

He walked down the stairs two steps at a time, and jumped the last three. He bumped into Iris at the bottom of the stairs. "H-hi, Wally," Iris gave him a smile "Come on, the others are waiting to meet you." She led him toward the living room. He stopped at the threshold of the room, surprised at the number of people there. While Barry was playing with Bella on the couch, seven teenagers and a green parrot (probably Beast Boy) were all sprawled across the floor of the living room. Megan was the first to look up "Wally, hi!" She stood up and walked over to him. "I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Megan." She stretched out her hand.

Wally shook it "I'm Wally, but I guess you already knew that."

"Wally," Iris gingerly put her hand on his arm, afraid of his reaction. Wally ignored it. "This is everyone else. You met Barry, of course." Wally gave him a small nod; Barry smiled in return.

"And that's Bella," She pointed to the young girl "Bella, wanna come say hi to your cousin, Wally."

Bella bounced towards them giving Wally an energetic wave "Hi Wally!" she said eagerly "Do you wanna play with me?" His mind instantly went back to a case several years ago when they had to track down a woman serial killer who looked and acted like a child. He immediately brushed it out of his mind.

"Maybe later, Bella," Wally smiled at her; she also reminded him of Maria. No doubt the two of them would get along.

"Okay," happy little Bella returned to her seat. One-by-one, Iris introduced all them. He thought it was hilarious to learn each of the Junior Leaguers by name, and they had no idea that he knew about their other life. There were Jaime (definitely Blue Beetle), Megan, Cassie (Wondergirl), Karen (Bumblebee), the two cousins Kevin and Kara (definitely the Supers) and finally his cousin-by-marriage Bart (Kid Flash), who definitely not pleased to see him. As a matter of fact, other than Barry, Iris (despite how nervous she was), and Bella, it looked like no one was really pleased to see him. He could sense those fake smiles from a mile off.

"So, lunch should be ready in a few minutes," Iris said "I'll just go get the table set up."

"I'll help," Wally offered quickly, not wanting to be in a room with so many people who didn't trust him. "After all, I am supposed to be spending time with you." If she noticed that he faltered at the end, she didn't say anything.

"Thanks, Wally," Iris smiled at him. He followed her into the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen, Iris stopped and turned to face him, staring him right in the eyes. Wally flinched and looked away. "Sorry," Iris whispered. "I g-guess I'm really the last person you want to see right now."

"You are," Wally figured that beating around the bush was a waste of time "I don't buy all of that 'memory-loss' bullshit."

She looked a little surprised, but quickly recomposed herself "I guess I do remember a lot more than I said." She replied evenly, "But that doesn't mean I remember everything." She turned to open the cabinets, pulling out plates and such. There was already food on the table, but Wally noticed that there was more still on the stove and in the oven. Wally pulled out a chair, and sat backwards on it.

"So, what do you remember," Wally asked.

"That my brother was an ass," was the first thing she said, and he was sort of glad that she did. "That all I ever saw was a so-called reformed brother who changed after he had his first and only child. That I really wanted to be a news reporter, and ignored every little sign, thinking that it was just my paranoia."

"I remember one time you bought their story that I hit a tree while I was running when in fact he hit me square in the face," Wally curled his fist, and counted backwards from ten in his mind.

"I don't remember that," Iris said softly, piling up the silverware on the plates. "But I remember how-how Rudolph, how he," she stopped talking, and for the first time in years, Wally realized that this wasn't some evil bitch who ignored him on purpose; she turned a blind eye because she couldn't accept the truth. And now she regretted it.

Wally stood up, and walked to stand beside her, taking the silverware from her hands and placing it on the plates. "Being a mom, I think, changed you," he said, not looking at her in the eyes. "Maybe even the memory loss. You used to be a lot more different than. Zee said that being a parent changes people."

"Zee," Iris sniffed, but when Wally glanced over, he saw that her eyes were only slightly red, but were still puffy, "She's your adopted mother, isn't she?"

"She was the first person to actually be a mother towards me," Wally defended, omitting the fact that during the first few weeks of his recovery, Dick was the biggest mother-hen to ever exist. "I'm happy where I am."

There were a few moments of silence, Wally silently helping Iris with putting the food on the table. It was a routine he remembered well from his childhood; he usually helped out with putting food on the table at large family get-togethers. "We have a large family." Iris commented, softly "What I don't understand is why you were adopted by complete strangers?"

"Because our 'family' sucks," Wally replied, "Because we come from a large, strict Irish-Catholic family of twelve who came here during the Irish potato famine. The religion part faded out, but not the strict upbringing."

"Yeah, I remember," her voice was quiet "That's why I wanted to get away. So I could be free."

Wally picked up the pot with the Dublin Coddle, the smell making his mouth water. "You left because you wanted freedom. I get that. Sometimes, I run away, stay away for a few hours, sometimes days, but I always came home." He placed the pot down, and turned to face his aunt. Sternly, he said "I understand that you didn't really have home then. I didn't either, until I was adopted. I guess you found a home now, with Barry, Bella and even Bart. I hope you come back this time whenever you leave."

"I never leave," Iris shot back. There was a fiery look in her eyes, so much like Wally's biological father, but this wasn't because she was drunk. It was the look of the 'angry Irish woman' that meant that the target should head in the other direction. She laughed suddenly, surprising him "I left you to be abused by the two people you should have trusted, got into an accident, and lost nearly all of my memory. And yet, you're the only one who understands me. You should hate me right now."

"I've never hated you," Wally shook his head "I just never could forgive you. I don't think I can, even now."

Iris smiled at him, understanding. Okay, so maybe, maybe he could actually start to lean towards liking her. But that would take a long time. "If you couldn't forgive me, why not just stay with the others in the living room?"

Wally snorted "Those fake smiles really irritated me. I've spent too much time around people who pretended they liked me just so they could get into favor with the Wayne family."

Before Iris could comment, a voice spoke up "Is everything alright?" Barry stood in the doorway, looking concerned "You guys were taking an awful long time."

"Just catching up a bit," Iris replied. "Everything's set now. Tell the others to come in. Food served in the kitchen, and eating's in the patio out back."

One by one, everyone filed in, eager to start eating. Wally grabbed a bowl, filled it with Dublin Coddle, and went outside. He glanced around for an empty spot, before sitting on the steps that led to the backyard. He looked up sharply as a shadow fell over him. Jaime stood behind him, looking a little awkward, before asking "You mind if I sit here?"

"No problem," Wally scooted over, giving him room.

Jaime sat down. "So," he started, attempting a conversation "You're Mrs. Allen's nephew huh."

"Uh, yeah," Wally quickly took a bit of his Dublin Coddle, and nearly moaned; while Alfred was an excellent cook, he couldn't quite get the Dublin Coddle right. "She never talked about me, has she?"

"Well, no, not really," Jaime replied "Honestly, she didn't even know you existed until, I think three or four months ago. We were all surprised."

Wally shrugged, unsure of how to respond. "How'd you know Bart?" he changed the subject.

"Oh we're friends," Jaime responded quickly. "We go to the same club."

Wally could tell that it was a half-lie, being a master of the trade himself. "What club?"

"Hey, Jaime and Wally," Kara called out; Wally wondered if she planned that. She walked over to them, looking exactly like one of those rich girls who wore booty-shorts, and a t-shirt that was just small enough to show a little waist and a bit more cleavage. Her flip-flops slapped annoyingly against her heels. She stopped a few feet in front of them, "You boys wanna sit with us?"

"Sure," Jaime said a little too quickly.

"No problem," Wally shrugged, standing up, and following Kara to go sit with the others. They all formed a circle on the patio. Wally, unfortunately, got the seat with the sun in his eyes. Iris, Barry, and Bella were nowhere to be found; probably inside. He stayed quiet, listening to the others just laugh and talk amongst each other.

"So Wally," Kevin leaned against wooden railing of the patio, with a rather condescending smirk on his face. Wally hated him immediately. "Tell us a little bit about yourself."

"What do you want to know?" Wally stared right back at Kevin, who was giving him the 'look-over'.

"What's it like having everything at your disposal?" Bart bit out rather rudely.

"Bart," Megan warned.

"Don't know," Wally replied, unfazed, "I'm not spoiled, by the way."

"So it's true that Grayson's just using you as his boy toy, then?" Kevin asked smugly.

A pin-drop silence could be heard; everyone stared horrified at Kevin, though Bart looked a little smug.

"No," Wally tried really hard not to smash the idiot in the head with his bowl. He kept thinking of the hundred reasons that wouldn't work. "Not everyone has daddy issues, _Kevin_."

"Boys, enough," Megan said, glaring at the two of them. "Kevin, that was completely uncalled for. Show some respect."

Kevin glared right back at her; Wally wondered if there was something more going on between them. "Sorry," he said unapologetically to Wally.

"Don't mention it," Wally replied, with just a hint of sarcasm. Maybe this behavior of Kevin's was just an effect of the drug; he wasn't sure. He'd like to 'forget' to give Superboy the antidote, but Batman wouldn't be too pleased with that. The number one lesson each Bat learned was '_Never go out angry, never go out reckless, and never, ever make it personal_'.

"What's Blüdhaven like," Karen asked, changing the subject as quickly as possible.

Wally took it "Eh, it's alright. It's like any other city in the world. You could walk the streets all day, and no one would notice who you really are. You can be anyone you want; same thing with Gotham except all that crazy sticks to you."

"I heard that there was a bat worshipping cult," Jaime said.

Wally groaned "That's the second time I heard that today. Actually, that's probably true. We're pretty crazy about the Bat Clan."

"Aren't they just a bunch of vigilantes?" Cassie asked.

"Isn't the Justice League?"

"Hey the Justice League is a UN certified organization," Kevin defended "Unlike the so-called Bat Clan."

Wally didn't responded; deciding to first finish his Dublin Coddle; it was starting to get cold. Afterwards, he said "So they're just another group of people tossed out by the system to do 'good'."

"You don't sound like you like the League," Kara observed, narrowing her eyes.

Shit; he almost forgot who he was talking to. "It's not that," he quickly amended "I know that the League saved a lot of people from natural disasters, the world being destroyed, or the human race from being enslaved. But I'm just saying that they're not really relatable at all."

That surprised them, even Bart and Kevin. He snickered at their shocked expressions, and explained "You see, there're a group of people who wear a bunch of colorful tights, have these awesome superpowers, and do all of these crazy things that no normal human could do. Hell, some of them aren't even human. So how can you expect people to relate to them? Or for them to relate to us? Sure, they give out speeches once in a while that say 'hey, I'm just like you guys', but I always thought that it seemed different. Like most of them actually don't know what it feels like."

"Are you saying that the League isn't worthy to save the human race?" Kara asked hotly.

'_No, I'm saying that the members of the Justice League have either lived normal lives among humans, or have never even connected with the human race personally,'_ He thought.

Instead, he shook his head and said "I have no idea where you even _got_ that idea, but that's not what I meant. What I'm trying to say is that the Bat Clan is more human, they connect with the people better. You walk around in the streets of 'Haven and Gotham all of those cities that have Bats, and you'll see that people talk about them a lot more differently than they do about the Justice League."

"The Justice League is a lot better than those vigilantes," Kevin said hotly. Wally wondered if he was pissed about the three Bats that got away from the League. "Bad guys are a lot more scared of them because they're much more powerful than any human on earth. Your stupid Bat Clan won't stand a chance."

Wally rolled his eyes "Jeez, you guys are just asking questions, and I'm answering them honestly. Don't know why you need to get all upset over it."

"So why do you like the Bat Clan so much?" Cassie asked.

Wally shrugged "Maybe because I'm not afraid of them getting abusive with their power and becoming overlords of Earth."

Someone whistled behind him "Now that's a scary thought." Wally twisted around to see Barry Allen standing in the doorway of the balcony. "I just came out here to tell you guys that there's plenty of food on the table, so feel free for seconds."

Wally noticed how, after that, only Jaime, and much to his surprise Cassie, were the only ones who actually engaged him in a conversation. He also pointedly ignored the fact that Bart and Barry kept sneaking around him to eat a lot more food, more than what was acceptable for a normal human. '_Well, that's speedsters for ya,_' Wally thought.

At one point, after he finished, he started to feel a little dizzy, and nearly cursed; he needed to take his medicine. It had been a long time since he actually had to take it, but he figured that with the emotional chaos today brought, he should have realized he would have needed it. Mumbling an excuse to Cassie and Jaime, he grabbed a glass of water, and headed upstairs to the room he'd be staying in. Inside, he fumbled around his bag and his backpack, praying that Zee or Dick slipped his medicine inside. Much to his relief, it was in his backpack, front pocket. "Thank-god," he mumbled, pouring two pills onto his shaking hand. He took one, then the other, and swallowed them down with water. He pressed his hands on the edge of the bed, leaning over, gasping, and taking moment to recover.

When Wally was unadvisedly injected with the Bat-Syrup all those years ago, other than healing quickly, he was given major virus in his brain. The virus was, at first, thought to be a tumor up until three months ago. When his monthly check-up with Dr. Gupta revealed that it was a virus, he tried not to cry. Tumors, sure there were ways to heal them, like cutting them out if you're going to the extremes. The only reason that his was never cut out was due to some anomalies. That monthly visit was supposed to figure out the anomaly, not say that it was a virus. Viruses can't be killed or destroyed; only weakened. And to make matters worse, this virus was clustered in two large chunks. One was in his limbic system, which controlled his emotions, and the other in his cerebellum and brainstem. The two clusters contacted with each other somehow, probably by electrical pulses or something. Any strong, intense feeling, such as extreme happiness, or extreme sadness, would result in dizziness, nausea, and feeling off balanced, highly uncoordinated, unawareness of his surroundings, high blood pressure, digestion problems, fast heart rate, and the lack of unconscious breathing. In other words, he'd be dying for a long time before he was dead.

The new medicine was just as good as the old one, only this time it worked on weakening the virus. There was no way he could escape this.

But he tried not to think about it too much. The only people who knew were the people who'd have to have all legal access to guardianship over him in case both Dick and Zee die, as well as Dr. Gupta and the Wayne and Grayson family lawyers. Meditation helps a bit, especially if he was getting an attack.

The door opened unexpectedly, and Wally turned around to find Bart. "Look here rich boy," the thirteen year old snarled "Let's make one thing clear. You're just here for a few days, and then you leave and never come back. Got it?"

Wally blinked, caught by surprise, "Um, sure?"

"Good," Bart looked like he was about to cry "You're not welcome here, especially since you came from Blüdhaven. And by the way, you don't need act like you're not Grayson's boy-toy." With that Bart, quickly left.

"Hey!" Wally shouted, silently counting back from ten. He ran after Bart, grabbed his shoulder, and turned. He was glad that his height of five feet ten inches gave him an advantage over the five-foot three inch Bart. "Listen," he growled, his heart hammering in his chest "I'm not here to stay, alright? I'm just here because my parents want me to reconcile with my aunt."

_And because I'm on a fucking mission to save you asses, _he mentally added.

"So let me make _this_ clear," he continued aloud. "I'm not going to stay here. I already have a home, I'm just here to visit. And don't you ever imply that Dick uses me as his boy-toy. I'm his _son_. I'm his son in all but blood. Dick is as likely to use me as a boy-toy as Barry is likely to use you. You got that kid?"

Wally thought he saw a shimmer of something in Bart's eye, looking a lot like fear and…satisfaction? "Yeah," Bart's voice sounded odd; happy and fearful was a weird mix.

"Good, and tell your friend Kevin to back off," Wally let go of him, "This is America and I have the freedom of speech; if he didn't want my opinion, he shouldn't have asked for it."

Bart gave him a curt nod, and headed downstairs. Wally thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye, and turned to find Barry staring curiously at him. "Um…" he figured that no reason was a good reason for this man by a teenager who nearly beat the life out of his son.

"I heard what he said," Bart explained, looking oddly calm. "I don't blame you for getting mad Wally. I do admire the fact that you tried to hold in your anger. I'll talk with him later today." He walked downstairs.

Wally blinked, surprised at how calm Barry was at the little fiasco that just happened. _Looks like not all Leaguers live in paradise,_ he thought. He followed after him.

* * *

(Ra's Al Ghul POV)

When the limo pulled up to his building, Luther set his wine down, and got out when Mercy opened the door, followed by Ra's. The trio quickly entered the building, not seen by anyone significant. Up at the top, in Luther's penthouse, the entire living room was destroyed. Dead guards gathered in a circle around the largest couch, where a pale figure dressed in orange and chains laid down freely, eating pork with a bloody fork.

"Oh hello," wide, blood-red lips grinned wildly at the three newcomers. Ra's narrowed his eyes; already the clown was giving them too much trouble; Luther and Mercy looked shocked. A cold, cruel voice added in a mock regret "Oh right. I'm _so sorry_ about the mess. You see, after being locked up for a _long time_-what was it, five years? Time sure does _fly!_-I got a little…fidgety. Besides, they didn't tell me whose honor I had to…"a green eyebrow quivered in amusement "_honor._ But, now I know." It started out as a giggle, but soon enough, it turned into a full-blown, spine-chilling laugh. Bits of pork flew out of his mouth, landing on the bodies below. Flies were already swarming the cadavers.

Ra's carefully stepped across the room, and stopped right in front of the Joker. "Do you know why you're here?"

The Joker giggled "Of course! I've been invited to a party! Although, it's an awfully long wait. I got pulled out a little early haven't I? Perhaps to enjoy how much shittier the world has become while I was away, hmm?"

"And you know what to do once you are there?" Luther asked, stepping up beside Ra's. The demon could sense exactly how uncomfortable the man was, but he managed to keep a straight face.

The maniacal smile grew wider "Of course! Now, why would you even have to ask?"

"You will_ only _provide a distraction," Ra's said harshly, hoping that the insane clown would get it through his head. "We have already sent off assassins to kill the Waynes. You will do nothing else, but _only be a distraction._"

A hint of cold steel flashed in the fanatical eyes, and the Joker's lips tightened ever so slightly "I know my job," he replied in a cold tone "Don't tell me how to do it."

'_We've made a deal with a mad man,'_ Ra's thought privately. '_But the chances that his actions will provide us with a very satisfactory result are high, despite the cost. I shall wait and see.'_ Ra's walked away from the couch, and towards the one-way window. The Joker resumed his laughing. Ra's looked out onto the clean streets of Metropolis. _The time has come, Detective, for you to suffer as I had always by your doing. But don't worry. After all, you _don't_ have a family to watch as they burn down a very painful descent. Nonetheless, you will watch as your kingdom falls.'_


	8. A Big Bang

Chapter Six: The Big Bang

Wally was shuffled off into the corner of the living room, and he was totally okay with that.

Iris had been called to work, probably for that press conference that Tim was attending that night. Bella was going over to her friend's birthday party, and Barry was given the task to watch her. Wally silently snickered at the thought of Barry being among all of those moms.

Which, unfortunately for him left him stranded in a group of people that he strongly disliked.

He pulled out his phone, opened the bio-scanning app (which was completely bogus and would only do a half-decent job, but that was the best he could work with for now), and started to, silently, scan each and every one of the people in the room. The lucky thing about having a custom made phone was that it could do a shit ton of stuff.

"So Wally," Megan began, probably trying to make him feel more comfortable "Can you tell us a bit more about the Bat-Clan?"

"Why do you want to know about those posers for?" Kevin muttered furiously, glaring at Wally as if he was trying to take away his girlfriend or something.

"They're the scariest shit on earth," Wally said "Well, that's what rumor says. I only caught a glimpse of one of them, Nightwing, and caught this really cool souvenir." He managed to pull out a tiny little wing-ding, about the size of this thumb. He found it right after his biological family moved to Blüdhaven, just three months before he was adopted. He usually kept it on him at all times, civilian and Bat. It was his good luck charm, though it seemed to be broken at the moment.

"Please, that's just some plastic piece of shit," Kevin commented at Wally handed it over to Megan.

"It feels pretty real," Megan handed it to Jaime. Nearly everyone in the room seemed to look at him for confirmation.

"It is," Jaime said, as if stating a fact. Wally resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Honestly, how come none of them were caught yet? It was so blatantly obvious that they had a secret to hide.

"Can I have it back," Wally reached out for it "It serves as a good luck charm."

"Guess it's broken right now," Karen remarked.

"What do you mean?" Wally slid it back into his pocket.

"Well, you know, your shitty family and all, and the family you got adopted into," Bart smirked. Wally glared at him; did their conversation earlier mean nothing to him?

"Iris is your step-mom," Wally pointed out.

"Don't tell me you don't know all about the dirt on your family," Kara scoffed. Wally glanced around; it looked like everyone's façade seemed to be finally falling now that Iris and Barry weren't here.

"Enlighten me," Wally crossed his arms.

"Your biological mother was a whore, and your dad was a crime-lord," Bart started, counting on his fingers like he was checking off a list. "You were sent away because he got caught and your mom is in jail for being such a slut. You got too sexually attached to your dad, but you got off easy didn't you? Traded one fuck-father for another."

He heard nothing but his heavy breathing, saw nothing but red in his vision. He took a few moments to calm himself down, but responding in a cold tone "Rudolph and Mary West are in jail for child-abuse and attempted first-degree murder. I am not sexually attached to anyone. Dick is the best father anyone could have. I already told you this before. I don't know where you're hearing this bullshit, but it's not true."

"More like threatened me," Bart lied.

"You threatened him?" Kevin grabbed him by the front of his shirt, and slammed him against the wall.

"Let me go!" Wally tried to twist out of his grip, but damn, that super was really strong.

"Listen to me you little punk," Kevin snarled "Don't you threaten Bart, or any of us again, you got that?"

Wally watched as Jaime put his hand on his Kevin's shoulder "You're a bully, Kevin," Jaime said evenly "Let him go."

Something must have happened, like Megan telling him off mentally. Everyone seemed to be glaring at the three of them. Wally glared at Kevin as the super slowly let him go. Wally straightened his shirt, and brushed past Kevin as he headed up stairs. It seemed to him that his body moved on its own; he mechanically grabbed his backpack filled with his mini lab, uniform, and other things that none of the Leaguers needed to find. He pulled his skateboard out of his suitcase, headed downstairs, and out the door, letting it close quietly. Once one the sidewalk, he chose a random direction, and rolled down, too angry to think.

* * *

(Bruce POV)

The conference room in Wayne Towers, Gotham City, was unusually silent. The morning sun shone through the windows, its rays landing on the sole occupant. Bruce drummed his fingers on the table, staring intently at Tim's picture on the large TV screen. A newspaper lay on the table, containing information that he didn't like, at all. His face was devoid of any emotion, nothing to show that he only had three hours of sleep when he had received the call from Tim. Tim stared back, only matching his adoptive father's 'glare' because it wasn't directed towards him.

"Has Wayne Enterprises been in any contact with the Daily Planet lately?" Bruce asked.

"No," Tim replied. "And whatever contact has been made would be by the Wayne Incorporation Entertainment division."

"Very well then," Bruce press his lips together. "I'll talk with my brother about this. In the meantime, I want background information on the reporter who wrote this." He tapped the article with his finger.

"Half-way done," Tim replied. "You'll get the info soon."

"Good," He responded curtly "I'll talk to you soon then, Tim."

Tim Drake nodded before turning off the screen.

Bruce stared at the black screen, his reflection staring back at him. With his niece's birthday only a few months away, the article was a…an annoyance. He knew what the public had thought about his family. He knew what both his niece and his son had to endure during school, and even his other wards and his own brother when they were in school.

There was a knock on the door. "Enter," Bruce said. He swirled his chair around to see Lucius Fox, a trusted man.

"I've got news, and you're not going to like it," The man started. His eyes trailed to the newspaper on the table. "But I see you already know."

"Get Penning," Bruce ordered. Agatha Penning was the head of the Wayne Incorporation Entertainment Division. "Tell my secretary to arrange a meeting with the head of Daily Planet, and this reporter with Penning, Tom and I."

"Will you inform Tom?" Lucius asked.

Bruce pressed his lips together. "Yes, and I'll talk with Alfred and Dick as well. It's time these rumors ended."

Lucius nodded, turned his heels, and walked out the door. Bruce sat there for a few minutes, still thinking of his next actions.

He stood up and walked towards the one-way glass wall. Half of Gotham lay out before him in the afternoon sun. Even with years of work and years of improvement, the city was still dirty; dirty, noisy, and the breeding ground of the greedy. Very few were honest, and he knew that his family would not be a part of those few, though for different reasons. They had to protect the city that started it all, and maybe also the city that ends it all.

Still, rumors about his family were increasing lately. They could mean absolutely nothing, of course, but past experience told him that it wasn't likely.

He pulled out his cell phone, and entered the code. The 'other line' allowed him to conference with three of his most trusted people at the same time. It was time to end all of this.

* * *

Wally sat down on the park bench in the first park he found after leaving the house. It was a nice place, with the swing sets and all. Not a lot of kids were there, and then even they had left when the sun started to go down. He wondered if the mini-Leaguers would look for him, or if they would just burn his stuff in the backyard and be done with it. He knew that his rationale was pretty extreme, but he figured that it was better than the alternative; freaking out and dying on the spot. He sighed, rested his elbows on his knees and hung his head.

This one day was more drama filled than he ever had expected it to be. It was supposed to be a simple mission, just be polite to Aunt Iris, cure the victims, and leave, but it ended up a lot more emotional then he wanted. Yeah, sure, the mission does go horribly wrong at times, but never emotionally. On top of that, he needed to figure out how to work with all those kids snooping around. There was no way he could get a moment of silence without someone accusing him of something.

He hated this.

"Wally?" Wally jerked up, and turned around, only to find Iris wearing a pencil skirt, a white blouse, and carrying a bag of what looked like ice-cream in her hands. She lifted the bag up, and asked "Want some ice-cream?"

A few minutes later, both of them were eating mint-chocolate chip out of two separate boxes. "Dick called," Iris stated "I couldn't tell him that you ran, but he seemed to figure it out anyway. He told me that you like mint-chocolate chip."

_Actually, Dick and Zee likes it,_ Wally though, taking another spoonful. _It just reminds me of them_. Could he fault Dick for psychologically getting him to talk to Iris? No; this mission was important, and Wally just blew it away.

"I'm sorry for running," Wally apologized.

"Don't be," Iris assured him. "I ran too."

Another few minutes of silence, "Maria's Bella's age," Wally suddenly said, "Dick and Zee's daughter. I think the two of them would be best friends."

"That would be nice," Iris stated.

Wally placed the spoon in his nearly-melted ice-cream, twirling it around. In a quiet voice, he told her what happened, starting from when he ran upstairs to get his medicine. It felt weird talking to Iris like this. She felt familiar enough for him to get comfortable, but a stranger enough to get a new perspective. He decided it was nice.

After he finished, she paused and said "Bart never liked me. He thought that I was trying to replace his mom. I wasn't, and I know that I never can. I just didn't know that he hated you that much as well."

"I don't know where they got that impression of me," Wally admitted. Iris looked as if she wanted to say something, but held back. "What is it?"He sat up straighter. "What do you know?"

"I-it was in the newspaper," Iris admitted "The Daily Planet."

Wally scowled; the Daily Planet was a Wayne Incorporation owned Newspaper Company. Bruce Wayne would not show mercy to any of them. "Who wrote it?"

"I don't know someone named Tyson McGovern, I think."

Another pause, and several moments of silence "I'll go and throw these out," Wally offered. Iris thanked him.

Wally turned around heading towards the trash can behind him. Maybe he and Iris could make up for lost time.

As soon as he heard the scream and a man's voice yelling grab her, Wally thrust the two empty boxes into the trash, and hide behind it. Peering out from around the trash can, he saw Iris being backed towards the woods by the playground, cornered by two thugs who seemed to have focused their attention only on her.

'_Finally, some action,_' Wally couldn't help but think as he slowly headed towards his backpack. He moved as swiftly and silently as he could.

"Just get away from me," Iris shouted.

"Come on lady," Thug one spoke. Wally frowned; his accent sound familiar, like he was from Gotham. They had that particularly distinctive accent that you couldn't hear anywhere else. "It's not gonna hurt one bit. Your idiot husband owes us."

_Owes them what?_ Wally wondered, picking up to decently sized rocks from the ground. He hefted them, checking their weight, the wind, and calculating exactly how much force he need to knock them out. _About three seconds until the other guy looks back after his partner falls._ He estimated.

He threw the rock at thug one. What he didn't expect though, was for thug two to pull out a gun and shoot at Iris. She screamed as she twisted away to the side, but Wally could see it as it gazed against her side. '_Silencer,'_ He ran up to the thug, and managed to knock him out. They were from Gotham, but they were probably just inexperienced crooks. Honestly, they were the easiest thugs he'd ever knocked out. He frowned as he caught sight of the fallen thug's neck. Lowering the jacket collar, he frowned when he saw a small Cobra tattoo. It wasn't even the Cult's actual symbol, just made up one.

"Wally," Iris gasped. He turned his attention towards Iris, who was lying on the ground with a hand pressed against her wound. "Call the ambulance."

"Hold on," Wally ran over to get his backpack, and quickly returned to Iris. He pulled out his first aid kit. "Dick and Zee made me take first aid classes with them." Wally said, pulling out a syringe already filled with a small dose of liquid morphine. "And I helped out when there was a shooting at my high school. I'm a volunteer at the local hospital near there, hoping to be a doctor one day." Wally gently tugged Iris's hand off of her shirt, and lifted the shirt just enough so he could see the wound. To be honest, it wasn't bad. The bullet just gazed the side of her waist. He cleaned it up with alcohol, and patched it up.

"All better," he put his things away, before helping her up. "How do you feel?"

"Fine," Iris looked at him, her green eyes studying him intensely. "They teach you this sort of stuff in first-aid training?"

"I'll tell you in the car," Wally glanced at the two men who were still unconscious. "In in the meantime, I think we should leave."

The look of shock and disbelief on her face made him realized she didn't buy into it. Wally shrugged, "Blüdhaven and Gotham have different standards for a lot of things. And, I've had to deal with worse in Blüdhaven." He held out a hand.

She stared at it for a moment before accepting it. "And Dick and Zee know about this?"

The slightly disapproval in her voice was obvious, so Wally quickly assured her. "I don't deal with people who're horribly ill or got really messed up. Doctor Gupta, who's like my mentor, only lets me handle the small stuff, like the really minor wounds. Honestly, I've had to patch up a friend after a stray bullet hit in his the side."

"Stray bullet?" the panic in her voice started to grow. He winced; okay, so maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

"I uh, think calling the police is a good idea," Wally changed topic. The two men were moaning, and starting to get up. "Or maybe we could just leave and pretend it never happened." He grabbed Iris's hand and started to lead her towards the car, intentionally forgetting his backpack.

"Your backpack," Iris pointed out as she was dragged away.

"Go," Wally gently pushed her forward. "It won't take too long."

He made sure Iris was looking the other way, before quickly searching thug who shot Iris. He grabbed the gun, found a syringe, and put them both in his backpack, before jogging back towards the car. As soon as Wally slammed the door shut, Iris hit the gas pedal, and the two sped out of there.

As they sat in silence, Wally contemplated on what happened. It gave out a little hint, but not much else really. It only added fuel to Batman's question; what was Barry Allen up to?


	9. Explanations

Chapter Seven: Explanations

Wally kept his eyes on the road ahead when Iris blew up.

"What the hell was that?" she shrieked, nearly missing a stop sign. Wally gasped as he nearly felled face-first into the dashboard.

"Um," Wally slide down in his seat, wincing at the confrontation. Maybe he should have handled it differently. Well, honestly, other than putting on his costume, he didn't see how he could have handled it. "I saved you from getting hurt?"

Iris sighed then winced, putting a hand on the wound to her side. "I thought that it would hurt more," she confessed. "What did you inject me with?"

'_Oh you know, just a super-healing factor that we use on normal people like cops so they can get healed a lot faster and get back on track so our cities won't fall into a pit of despair.'_

Wisely, he just said "Just morphine that Doctor Gupta gave me. I think it must be a strong dose or something. And I'm sorry about the way I acted. Living in Blüdhaven all these years gave me a, um, reflex."

Thank-fully, she bought it. "I can't believe that Dick and Zee would let you out on the streets if you have to learn _that_ as first aid to help your friends."

"Well, I mean, it's not just hanging out on the streets," Wally admitted "Some of my friends' lives aren't that great, so they come to our house. We patch them up as best as we can."

"Why don't you call social services?"

Wally snorted. "Social Services in Blüdhaven sucks. Dick should know, 'because he's a cop. Any kid that ends up in the care system usually ends up in jail or dead later on. It's rare to find a foster kid who ends up alive and happy."

"Sounds like a tough place," Iris commented. "But wait, I thought Dick worked in Wayne Technology?"

"Not really, I mean he's more of a consultant and a representative of Bruce and Thomas if neither of them can get to a certain meeting." Wally told her, knowing that that piece of information was public anyway. "He was supposed to come to this party that Luthor's hosting in Central, but he had work that day, so they sent Tim instead."

"Ah," She put her hand on the wound again. "It just stings now."

"It was a really shallow wound," Wally offered. And then he remembered "Ah crud, I left my skateboard there."

"I'm sorry Wally, but it's gone," Iris said firmly. In a softer tone, she added "But if you'd like, I'll buy you a new one tomorrow? We're planning on going to the mall anyway."

"Um, you don't have to," Wally said. "I saved up enough to buy another one, so it's cool. Besides, my parents will understand."

Her eyes widened slightly when he called Dick and Zee his parents, but he ignored it. "I insist," Iris persisted "You saved my life Wally, it's the least I can do."

"Well, uh, thanks then, I guess."

'_Nothing like saving a life to bond,'_ He thought.

"And, one more thing," her voice sounded cautious, her hands tightening on the steering wheel. She stayed silent for a moment.

"Yeah," Wally prompted.

"…nothing. Just….how about we not tell them what happened," Iris suggested. "I don't want Barry to worry about it."

There was something more to the story, he realized. He briefly made eye-contact with Iris as she glanced at him. '_And she knows that I know that there's something else. I've seen that look before. She trusts me to keep quiet._'

"Sure," Wally gave her a small smile. "Uh, we could just say that someone stole my skateboard."

"You lost it," Iris said "And we couldn't find it."

"Works for me," Wally shrugged. He turned to look out the window, watching the houses fly by. '_What exactly are you keeping hidden, Iris? What's going on?_

There was more to the story then he knew, and Wally was damned if he didn't find out.

No one really said anything when they came back. No one even _looked_ at him when they came back. Barry gave him a small, pained smile, which he returned. Dinner, mainly left-over's and pizza, was eaten in silence. The next hour before they went to bed, Wally managed to find that he was alone in the living room. The others were still in the kitchen, while Barry and Iris took Bella upstairs. He could faintly hear whispers coming from the kitchen, but ignored them. He sent a report to Tim, telling him everything mission-related, on his phone. He later texted Dick and Zee, telling them that he was fine.

The next thing he knew, he was getting a call from the Zatara-Grayson household. "Hey, what's wrong?" Dick immediately asked.

"Nothing, everything's swell" Wally told him, mindful of the fact that there were Supers in the other room. The whispers seemed to die down a little. "I had to take my medicine today."

"Ah," Dick's tone told him that his foster-father received the message. "So, how're you feeling?"

"Peachy," he said. "Some of Barry's friends are staying over for part of the week, so it's a crowded house. I don't mind though. Uh, did you tell them that I'm claustrophobic?"

"I'm sure Zee or I mentioned it," Wally could see Dick slightly frowning. "I'll ask her though."

"No biggie," Wally yawned. "Anyway, I'll see you in a few days. Oh, by the way, Tim seemed kind of nervous this morning. I think Jason must have teased him about this whole party thing."

"Tim's fine," Dick laughed a little "Besides, he can handle Luthor on his own."

"About that," Wally sat up in the couch, and lowered his voice, even though it was futile. He didn't want the others figuring him out. "Luthor met us when Tim and I got down the plane. Does he expect me to be there?"

There was a pause, before "No. But we'll talk more about this when you come home, alright?"

"Sure. Are Zee and Maria there?"

"Right here," Zee's voice came through "Wally, have you been good?"

"Yes, Santa," Wally said sarcastically. "I even helped out in the kitchen!"

"And you never help when I asked you to," Zee pointed out.

"Dick doesn't either! Uh sometimes,"

"Dick's my husband. I'm his wife. He listens to me."

"…you scare me."

"Good," she sounded a little smug, but Wally could tell that she was a little worried. "You just missed Maria by the way. She fell asleep five minutes ago."

"Tell her I said hello," Wally said "And don't worry about me. I'm fine. Tell mother hen to chill?"

"You're fine?" her voice sounded skeptical. "Then what's this I hear about taking your medicine?"

"I'm _fine_," he insisted "Honest. Anyway I got to go now. I'll see you guys in a few days."

"Alright," her voice softened "love you Wally. Just be careful."

"I will," Wally promised "Love you too, Zee."

"See ya, Wall-man!" he heard Dick's voice a little far off.

"See ya!" Wally raised his voice a little, and hung up.

He sighed.

Well, mission was going great. He mentally reviewed everything he learned so far.

He's staying in a house where most of the people hate him, even though most of them don't live there. Iris and Barry seemed to have a perfectly normal, if slightly distant relationship, while Bart doesn't like his step-mother, or his little half-sister. He seemed to be the only one to notice that Iris was acting a little odd at dinner. But Barry seemed to be preoccupied, namely in asking Wally more about himself and what he likes. The one redeeming quality in Barry, Wally found, was the fact that the man was willing to listen to his science theories. Of course, he never let himself be seen as more than a really smart high school student with potential.

On the other hand, other than Cassie, Jamie, and even Karen to an extent, none of the leaguers like or even wanted him to be there.

And it was only day one.

'_This is a complete bust,'_ he thought, feeling that the mission would go horribly wrong. '_Well, still got a few more days. We'll see how it goes._'

* * *

(Third Person POV)

"So, Falcon was right, you did want a threesome," Stephanie commented, peering over a half-Kryptonian's body. Said Kryptonian was still sleeping, and slightly snoring. Both Tim and Steph found it adorable.

"Well, not exactly," Tim said, sitting up, letting the covers fall down to reveal his muscled, bare torso. "Besides last night wasn't a threesome, it was just..."

"Intense cuddling," Steph too sat up, the covers falling to reveal her near-naked torso.

"Let's go with that," Tim smirked, getting out of bed.

"Anyone ever tell you that you're a psychopath?" Steph asked, smiling at her boyfriend.

"Highly-functioning sociopath, do your research," Tim replied, looking around for his shirt "Did you see my shirt anywhere?"

"It's mine now," Steph leaned over to pick up his white-dress shirt, and put it on. "And I did my research, two years of it. You're a psychopath Tim."

"Fair enough," he sighed, putting on Connor's shirt instead "Want some pancakes?"

A few minutes later, Connor woke up to the smell of pancakes. Groggily, he sat up, the events of last night rushing into his head. '_Definitely not what I expected,_' he thought, getting out of bed. He frowned when he couldn't find his shirt, so he stuck to just wearing his jeans. He followed the smell of pancakes to the apartment's kitchen. At the stove was Tim, wearing _his_ shirt, though Connor had to admit that even though it was oversized, it fit him. At the kitchen table wolfing down the pancakes was Steph, wearing Tim's shirt. She too, he admitted, looked good.

When Steph saw him, she motioned him to sit down next to her, her mouth to full of pancake to talk. "So," Connor began, shuffling his feet towards the chair. It didn't squeak as he pulled it back, making him feel all the more awkward when, as he scooted in, the legs scraped against the kitchen floor and squeaked. "Uh, about last night-"

"Yes, it was almost a threesome," Tim interrupted, walking over with a pile of pancakes. He set the plate down in the middle, before taking a seat himself and serving Connor, then himself. "And yes, that was the conclusion of the unexpected date I took you on earlier that day."

"I warn you that we're stuck with a psychopath," Steph pointed her fork at Connor "And I also warn you that Tim's got away with manipulating people, but is absolutely clueless on manipulating how people feel. So he likes you, I like you, and I know you like the two of us. So that's that."

"Um, okay," Connor cut a piece of pancake, but put the fork down half-way to his mouth. "I-I'm not complaining about last night, I guess. But I thought I was here for a mission?"

"You are," Tim said, taking a sip of orange juice "Steph?"

"Long story short I found out that the Terror Twins are going to make an appearance today at the mall," Steph said "We have information that League Junior's in town. But who knows if they'll get there in time. Your job is to hang out in the mall, play expensive rich boy, and stop the Terror Twins."

"Both of them?" Connor exclaimed.

"Yep," Tim said, smiling at Connor "If you pass this test, then you'll get a chance to take the actual test to becoming a Bat."

Connor stared at Tim for a moment, looking at someone who looked amazingly good in his own shirt, and someone who's possible crazy. "Steph's right," Connor said slowly "You're crazy."

"Finally, I have someone else to help me control Tim!"Steph giggled "Connor, I think you'd be a perfect bodyguard for Tim. Just make sure he doesn't get hit on by anyone, alright?"

Connor looked back and forth between the two, who were calmly eating their pancakes, and wondered what he got himself into "You're both crazy," Connor declared, and resumed eating his pancakes. He wondered if he'd become as crazy as they are.


	10. The Mall Incident

Chapter Eight: The Mall

(Wally POV)

The way he 'found out' they were superheroes was by finding a green monkey-boy eating cereal straight out of the box. Wally decided just wanted a glass of water from the kitchen. So while everyone else was bustling about getting ready for a mall trip, he went to go into the kitchen. Obviously this situation was something neither of them expected. Both stared at each other, surprised. Wally was the first to snap out of it though. He calmly walked over to the cabinet, pulled out a glass, and filled it with water from the sink. He slowly drank the entire thing, facing Beast Boy.

"Dude," Bart just literally zipped into the kitchen. "You should probably turn back into a parrot before Iris's nephew sees you."

"Ummm," replied Beast Boy, looking at Wally. Bart followed his gaze, and his jaw comically fell open.

Just then, Barry walked in "Hey guys, have either of you seen-"

Barry's gaze caught his. Wally put his glass down, and raised his hand. "Hey," he said. "So, care to tell me who's who?"

Five minutes later, everyone was gathered around the small dining table. Wally, Barry, Megan, Iris and Kevin all sat down. Everyone else stood around the dining table, tensely watching the scene unfold before them. "Wally, you cannot tell anyone about our secret ID." Barry stated.

Wally blinked. "I know."

There was an awkward paused. "You know, you're not freaking out as much as we thought you would?" Barry commented.

Wally shrugged. "If I met you guys in costume, I would. But I'm meeting you guys in real life, and honestly, I'm not really impressed." Okay so maybe it wasn't the best of approaches, but within twenty-four hours he felt attacked in a way in hadn't felt in years. Besides, it wouldn't jeopardize the mission because all they would see is a guy who's been disappointed and they'll feel shame in letting someone not believe in their alter egos.

"We…uh, hadn't exactly behaved have we?" Megan stated rather sheepishly. "I guess we should apologize for that."

"Well, now I know," Wally crossed his arms, and looked down, pretending to be disappointed. "You guys really are just something for show, aren't you?"

There was another uncomfortable silence. "So, you know I'm Flash," Barry began. "And that Garfield is Beast Boy. So do you know anyone else's?"

"Um…" He pretended to think, and looked around. "So, I'm guessing Kara and Kevin are Supergirl and Superboy, but only because they look alike." He took his time, but managed to correctly name all of the superheroes. "I mean honestly," Wally explained to the stunned faces "It's really not that hard once you put everything together."

Barry frowned "No, it just means that we need to improve hiding our identity."

"How about we go to the Mall early today?" Iris suggested her voice cutting through thick tension.

Murmurs of agreements were heard. "Great," Iris stood up, "How about we-"her phone rang interrupting her. She picked it up, "Hello?" She frowned, "On my way." She turned towards Barry.

"Captain Cold's holding people hostage, and my boss wants an exclusive."

"Ready," Barry got out of the chair. "So, you kids have fun at the mall!" He spun quickly, changing into his costume. Unfortunately Wally's eyes automatically adjusted to the speed and were greeted with the uncomfortable sight of the Flash, and his uncle, half-naked for a split second. He waved good-bye, and dashed off to who knows where.

Iris sighed, probably irritated that her husband left the awkward situation.

"We'll watch over Bella for you," Megan offered.

Ten minutes later, and Iris had left as well, which left Wally in a room full of people who still strongly disliked him.

Great.

* * *

The arrogance of Tyson McGovern was annoying.

Lucius could just feel it coming off it waves as they waited for the rest of the party to arrive. McGovern was already there, as were Lois Lane and Clark Kent. He had a faint idea as to why the other reporters were there, but he didn't say anything.

Tyson McGovern was rather young, around twenty-five years old. He came from a rather poor background, which could have contributed to the obvious hatred of the wealthy in his article. He had brown hair, brown eyes, a medium build, and was at an average height.

"Where the hell is Wayne?" McGovern sneered, "Is he too busy to come to his own shin ding?"

"Actually he's not," A new voice spoke from the door way. Everyone turned around to find the Wayne brothers arriving, along with Perry White, the Head of the Daily Planet, and Agatha Christie, Head of the Wayne Incorporation Entertainment Division. "And I suggest you watch what you say before you insult my brother, or my family, again, Mr. McGovern."

Thomas Wayne Jr. was like a younger version of his brother, except for his brown hair and his slim nose, which he got from his mother while his brother had his father's black hair and rather large nose. Behind him was Bruce Wayne, looking quite unlike the 'silly-and-dim-witted-except-for-managing-his-business' persona he usually kept in public. He was angry, and very unhappy, which Lucius, to be honest, had never seen him before as.

"Oh look, 'Brucie's here," McGovern said dryly. Kent tried to hide his laugh, while Lois frowned. Perry looked nauseous and Agatha raised an eyebrow, but her face otherwise remained blank.

"I suggest we all sit down first," Lucius said quickly, sensing Brucie's angry demeanor that he was trying very hard to hide, "Before we discuss the matter at hand."

Everyone took their respected places. Bruce sat at his desk, with Tom to his left and Lucius himself to his right. McGovern sat across from Bruce, crossing his legs as he stared intently at the trillionaire. Lois sat next to him, slightly nervous, while Clark Kent stood protectively behind her. White took a seat on the other side of McGovern, and Penning stood next to Lucius.

'_Let the fun begin,'_ Lucius thought dryly.

* * *

(Wally POV)

They all ended up going to the mall, taking an excited Bella along with them. The little chatterbox went with the girls as they looked at whatever girls look at, while the guys headed over to the skateboard shop. Iris had given Wally about two hundred dollars in cash; he didn't ask her where she got it from. Up until they divided into two groups, the only thing Wally learned was that Bart had a bit of a crush on Jaime, and either the older Hispanic was completely ignoring it, or was that blind. Of course, the beetle attached to his skull probably told him a long time ago, so maybe he just didn't want to make things awkward?

He had nothing to report to Tim that morning, other than the fact that they were heading to the mall. Tim replied by giving him a heads up; the Terror Twins would be attacking.

'_Looks like the mission just got worse,'_ Wally decided.

The first stop for the boys was the skateboard store. Using the money Iris gave him, he managed to get a two hundred-fifty dollar skateboard for only two hundred dollars. Of course, that didn't make the Junior League Boy scouts like him anymore.

"Seriously, you were just carrying around two hundred dollars in your wallet?" Bart asked, skeptical about it.

"Someone told me that they'd give me money to buy a skateboard," Wally shrugged "I sort of lost mine, and they felt responsible even though it really wasn't their fault."

"You realized that you could have been mugged for it, right?" Jaime pointed out.

"Hey I didn't go around announcing how much money I had on me," Wally said. "I'm not that stupid."

"Rich prick," Kevin muttered.

Wally ignored the comment. Beast Boy, or Gar as the other called him, poked his lizard head out of Bart's shirt pocket, stuck his little lizard tongue at Wally, and then slithered back in.

He blinked, and was unsure of how to respond to that. "Okay…"

They wandered around the mall for a little while longer, before meeting the girls back at the food court. Bella was holding a new doll in her hand. "Bar' look!" she held out the new doll towards her big brother. "Look what I got!"

"Cool," Bart seemed completely disinterested. The girls and Jaime threw him a dirty look as Bella looked disappointed.

"That's a pretty cool doll you got there Bella," Wally smiled at the young girl. "You know, my sister likes Abby Kadabby too."

The girl's eyes lit up, "Really?"

For the next five minutes, he was her new best friend, who had a hard time keeping up with her motor mouth. Even though Wally completely failed her Sesame Street test it didn't stop Bella from chatting away. At some point, Bella was holding his hand and swinging it back and forth as the group made their way into the mall food court.

"Well, you're good with kids," Megan commented, smiling at him. It came off a little forced.

"Oh well, like I said before, I have a kid sister who's Bella's age," Wally shrugged "I guess that's just-"

A large crash interrupted his sentence. Instinctively, he pulled Bella closer as he looked up. The Terror Twins grinned widely as they made their appearance, looking a little too much like the Joker as they did. He pressed a button on his watch, sending out a signal. A large pink foam spread across the doorway, and it hardened. "This here is a hostage situation," Tommy Terror fired a gun at a random point. He looked like a crazy cowboy with an annoying southern accent.

'_Since when did he have a gun?' _Wally wondered, playing petrified as he held Bella close to him. He noted that the League Juniors had taken off with a large crowd that ran off earlier.

"So ya'll better stay outta our way," Tuppence added, flying next to her brother. The doors opened to reveal a large group of thugs marching it. "Or y'all are gonna get it good. Our friends here will make sure you'll stay put."

"Better hope that the city's gonna pay for your release in an hour," Tommy cackled. The two flew off into the other sections of the mall, where a few people were escaping.

Wally ducked his head as he recognized the one of the gunman; he attacked Wally and Iris the day before. _'Gotta keep Bella out of sight,'_ Wally thought, letting himself be pulled by a different thug who pushed him and Bella into the crowd of people in front of the Burger King. Wally made sure they were close to the little gate that led to behind the counter.

"Bella I need you to listen to me," Wally wrapped an arm around her as he pulled out his phone and typed in the password for the 'Bat-line'. If Tim received a message from this line, he'd send back-up. And lucky for them, the thugs were preoccupied with grouping the people. "I'm going to dial a number on my phone. I want you to go behind the counter and press the green button. When the ringing stops, I want you to say your name and that there's trouble at the Central City Mall. Someone will talk to you and send help, okay?"

"I-I'm scared," Bella cried "I-I'm r-really sc-scared I don't want to go."

"Please Bella," Wally said softly, but his heart was hammering. Oh god she reminded him of Maria. She reminded him of all the people he swore to protect. "I know you can do it, okay? I know you can make the call, and after you do, I just want you to speak softly and stay behind the counter, no matter what happens, just stay there. Someone will come to pick you up, okay?"

Bella sniffed, clutching her new doll close to her. "O-okay," she muttered, but Wally doubted that she'd be able to move. Keeping one eye on the thugs, he placed her on the skateboard and slowly opened the door. When it squeaked, he heard someone cough, covering it up. Wally gave a grateful nod at the woman. He finished pushing Bella inside. Seeing three other kids there, he motioned for them to come as well. "Just go inside, quickly," he said. People quietly helped the children moved. They just barely made it before a thug turned around. Wally held the bottom of the gate, stopping it from swinging.

"Hey no funny business!" he snarled. "Everyone sit down!"

"Get their phones!" the first thug, the one who attacked him shouted "Everyone put hand over your phone! Anyone funny business and you'll be shot!"

Of course, someone did resist. And that someone was pulled out into the center of the crowd, and shot in the head. There were screams, before the head thug fired into the air. "EVERYBODY SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Silence fell at once.

"Anymore noises or resistance, then all of you will be shot." The guy searched the crowd, before his eyes settled on something. He motioned to a couple of his cronies, and they dragged out a woman into the center. "Now as we're waiting how about some educational entertainment? This is how babies are made kids!"

"NO!" Wally's mouth and body reacted before his mind could think. "Leave her alone! She didn't do anything to you!" He stood up, his arm outstretched as if he could stop him. Everyone froze, and turned towards Wally "Aw crap," he muttered. Two other goons were motioned to drag him out. He resisted, but there was so much he could do without letting other people catch onto him.

He was brought to kneel in front of the man, he grabbed his hair and pulled his head back. Wally grunted.

"Well, well, well, look who we have here!" The man grinned, and Wally could see his crooked teeth, but thank-fully his breath was fine. "I know you, kid. You're Barry Allen's ah nephew." He chuckled, as if he knew a secret and he wasn't going to tell.

"H-How d'you know my uncle?" Wally asked, gritted his teeth. His head hurt like hell.

"That doesn't matter," The man hit him with the butt of his gun. "What matters is that you tell me where he is."

"I-I don't know," Wally said.

"Okay," The man let him go. Then he shot the woman he would have raped. Wally stared at her; the bullet punctured her lung, she struggled to breath. "Let's try again." This time, a man was grabbed from the nearest group.

"No!" A pregnant woman leaped up, trying to stop them. The other people, civilians not the thugs, held her back. "Let him go, please let Alan go!"

Wally recognized the woman as Martha. That meant that Alan was ex-cop at Blüdhaven. Hopefully certain things hadn't changed over the years. When Alan made eye-contact, Wally gave him a nearly-hidden thumbs-up and blinked twice; the man blinked in return. It was a trick Dick taught him, about how 'Haven cops communicated undercover.

Alan was on board. Officially, Wally Grayson was taking karate lessons. Alan was security at Wayne Technology. They couldn't defeat everyone there, but hopefully it'll give some of the hostages' time to escape.

But a very important question was burning in his mind; where the hell was League Junior?

"Where is Allen?" the head thug placed a gun against Alan's head.

Whispering caught his attention.

"That's Bumblebee."

"Where's she going?"

"Why isn't she helping us?"

"Beast Boy! He left too-"

"WHERE'S BARRY ALLEN!" The head thug roared, hitting Wally in the head with the butt of the gun.

"He's probably at work!" Wally screamed, not masking his fear, his helplessness. "He's probably at work, I don't know! I don't…I don't know."

"AAHH!" Wally turned to find Martha clutching onto the people who had held her back.

"Her water bag broke twenty minutes ago! Please let her go!" Alan begged.

The head thug sneered, before pointing his gun at Martha. "No!" Alan tackled him.

Wally punched out the thug next to him, and kneed the other one in the balls. As he predicted, the thugs turned their attention onto them. Much to his surprise though, a random young woman appeared out of nowhere, and took down two of the thugs at a rather impressive speed. '_She's trained very well,'_ Wally observed. He didn't have much time to study her when someone shot him in the shoulder.

He screamed as he fell down, clutching his bleeding wound. A several gunshots Wally looked up, only to find the head thug shooting several rounds of his AK-47 into Alan's dead body. '_No,_' Wally thought through the pain.

"Everyone sit back down on your asses, or every single one of you piss holes will be shot!" The head thug kneeled down next to Alan, and ripped a strip of his shirt.

No one made a sound. Wally, much to his surprise, found a large hand pressing against his wound. He screamed, not bothering to hold back. "You fuckin' bleed out dead on me, kid, and I will kill everyone," head thug snarled, wrapping his wound with the ripped piece of cloth from Alan's shirt. He stood up, and issued an order "Ten of you against the pink wall. Another ten block the exit. And the five of you will keep watch over the others. Anyone does something funny, shoot 'em. And whoever's a doctor help that lady or I'll shoot. I've got other places to be."

He left Wally there, sitting in the middle of the destroyed food court. He hoped the Bella was alright, and wondered where the hell the others were. Two people claiming to be doctors rushed over to help Martha.

It seemed to go over to quickly, the giving birth. Well, he wasn't knowledgeable about birth giving and all that and he did nearly black out at one point because of the wound. But he knew that it was quicker for some women than others. The baby's cries were the only loud noise in the otherwise quiet area.

What was in this bullet wound? He shouldn't feel so drowsy. He was hearing voices, but maybe help arrived by then. The circus…was the circus in town. And Bob Marley was singing…someone was fighting…Martha said she was going to name her son Alan Walter…why Walter? He let her husband die.

The floor felt cold and nice and soft, like a blanket that Zee covered him with. Zee…she was his mommy, right? She had blue eyes…red hair…could cook a mean Italian meal…made Dublin Coddle just right…

(Third POV)

First the thugs by the civilians were taken out, then the twenty who were lined up on each side of the food court. People were still too afraid to move, thinking that it was all a trick. Red Robin, Batgirl, The Spoiler and Archer Green emerged out of their respective hiding places. Each carry a large black bag. "Ladies and gentlemen the police are going to take a while," Red Robin called out "Any doctors, nurses, surgeons, and other medically trained personal will be organized into three groups. Each group will carry a bag that will contain more medical supplies than your average first aid kit."

"Who are you?" Someone called out. No one had dared to move.

Red Robin wasn't fazed, "Someone who knocked out the thugs holding you hostage."

"We have half an hour at best," Archer Green reported "Red Hood said that the Terror Twins are causing havoc downtown and most of the police cars and ambulances went that way."

A man and a woman, both doctors, marched up each grabbing hold of a black bag "Then we don't have much time," the woman said. "I'm Doctor Maria Sandra. You're the Bats, aren't you? I've heard of you guys."

"I'm surprised," Red Robin replied "Not many people outside of the Bat cities heard of us."

"One of you saved my granddaughter's life," the elderly doctor replied "Besides, I took the same oath you did; to help people. Alright, everyone move it!"

"What about the thugs?" a man shouted out.

"They're already working on it," Red Robin waved a hand towards the Spoiler and Archer Green, who had already tied up and disarmed the guns of nearly all the thugs. A few people moved to help them, separating the thugs, the weapons, and the bullets from each other.

It was surprising, how quickly people were willing to work together when there was a shining lighthouse of hope. There weren't a lot of medically advanced people, but enough to spread into three groups, and other people treated those with minor wound relatively quickly. The woman who had given birth, Martha Lenox, was taken far away from her husband, being talked to by a man who was trying to calm her down. But the first person Red Robin and Dr. Maria Sandra went to was the red head lying in the middle of the food court.

"He's a brave kid," Dr. Sandra said as she reached him. "Stood up for a woman who was about be raped, and told his little sister to hide in the back- oh god that looks bad."

The wound bleed through the rag that was wrapped around it. Dr. Sandra unraveled it, revealing a slightly bleeding bullet wound; a slightly bleeding, ordinary bullet wound. "Right, so I need-"

"All here," Red Robin interrupted, handing her a smaller kit that he seemed to have pulled out of nowhere. "Always keep an extra bullet-removing pack."

In another part of the food court, Batgirl returned three young children to their grateful parents, before going back to the counter behind Burger King. A young girl, a toddler of three years, huddled in the corner. She didn't move when Batgirl checked behind the counter and the three children rushed at her after deeming her safe. Now, Batgirl, slowly walked up to the girl, and knelt a good distance away from her. "Bella?" she called out softly. "Bella does my voice sound familiar to you?"

The little girl looked up, peering at the young woman with olive green eyes "You're the lady I talked to," Bella whispered.

"That's right," Batgirl smiled, "You know, you're a pretty brave girl for talking to me like that, even though you're scared."

Bella sniffled, and only held onto her Abby Cadabby doll even tighter. "Here," Batgirl showed her a page of star-stickers. "You said that your teacher would give you stickers for doing a good job, right? Well you did a good job in talking to me and keeping quiet and making sure to tell me everything that you heard." She waited patiently. Finally, Bella looked up.

"Are you a superhero?" Bella asked her in a small voice.

Batgirl laughed "No, not really. I'm a hero, but I don't have any powers."

"Okay," Bella moved forward, towards the sticker. "Can you put one on me? And on Abby because she kept me brave."

"Of course," Batgirl put a stick on both the girl and the doll. "Do you want to come out now? I promise you that it's safe." Bella nodded. The young woman scooped up the little girl in her arms, and took the skateboard as well. Bella buried her face into Batgirl's neck.

By then, the rest of the Bats had arrived. Tigress and Cheshire were keeping watch over the goons who woke up. Any thug who tried to escape found a small dagger lodged in their shoulder. Red Robin and Red Hood were blowing up the pink wall that covered the entrance, and people helped push away any fallen debris. The Spoiler handed out snacks and drink to the children, talking to them, telling that they everything will get better from now on. Archer Green talked with the people, keeping them calm, telling them that ambulances have been called and are right outside, and that as soon as the pink wall went down, the severely injured go first, followed by the minor injuries and those who walked unscathed. Batgirl kept Bella's eyes away from the two covered bodies.

"Wally," Bella pointed to a red headed kid who lay unconscious, but looked relatively fine. His right shoulder was bandaged up "Why is he sleeping?"

"He had a big boo-boo on his shoulder," Batgirl explained "So he needs to sleep so that it could heal faster."

"I wanna sit by him," Bella said "I think he needs his skateboard."

"Why's that?" Batgirl asked, amused.

"Well I got Abby today and she kept me brave and Wally got the skateboard so maybe it'll keep him brave."

Batgirl smiled "You know what, sweet heart? I think it will."


	11. What's been said

Chapter Nine: What's been said

During the Mall Incident

(No One POV)

"I'm well aware that the first amendment states that people have the freedom of press," Bruce began after several moments of silence. "But you're a Cambodian, aren't you?"

Tyson's smirk faltered "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Don't blackmail him!" Clark growled at Bruce.

Both Wayne brothers raised an eyebrow. "He signed a contract when he joined," Agatha Christie pulled out a file from her briefcase, and handed it to Tyson. "This is only the copy. But as it clearly states, as a reporter, Tyson must present facts to the best of his ability. It's understandable if he's been bamboozled and unknowingly accepted incorrect facts from a strong source. That is not the case here, however."

"And just how exactly do you know that?" Tyson demanded.

Agatha pulled out another paper from her briefcase, but this time laid it out for all to see. Lex Luthor, Tyson McGovern, and, much to Clark Kent and Lois Lane's surprise, Perry White were all sitting at a table. "Because when we looked for reasons why one of our best reporters would write such an article, and why the head of the Daily Planet would allow that to go through, we did a little investigating."

"We're not giving you a choice," Thomas handed two papers to Bruce, who glanced at it before placing them on the desk, and sliding one towards the three reporters and the other towards Perry White. "Tyson McGovern, Perry White, you are hereby terminated from the company. No other major Wayne Incorporation affiliated company will hire you. You will be provided with protection in case Lex Luthor has been threatening you."

"Y-you can't do this!" Tyson protested, his face paling, leaning forward in the chair "I-I have rights!"

"None of which are violated under company policy," Bruce spread his hands out "I'm sorry, Tyson, but you have violated company policy, and therefore the actions required will be taken."

The young reporter sat there in shock, staring. Shaking, he stood up. "You'll hear from us in court." He swore then stormed out of the office.

"Mr. Kent, please make sure that both Mr. White and Mr. McGovern make it home safely," Lucius Fox requested. The blue-eyes reported made his hands into fists, holding onto them so tightly that they paled. He left without another word, with Perry White following him like a whipped dog.

"Sir," Lois Lane fidgeted in her seat "I don't understand why I was called."

"Neutral party," Bruce Wayne explained. "You stick to the facts, you question everything and you can find the truth; there is a slight prejudice in regards to Lex Luthor, but none so damaging."

"You're being promoted," Agatha Christie pulled out yet another file from her briefcase, and handed it to Lois. "Your resume was rechecked. A double Masters in Journalism and Business Management, with a specification in Managing Multimedia. This is only a trial run, in essence, but congratulations Miss Lane; you are now officially the head of the Daily Planet. You only answer to me and the Wayne Brothers from now on." Agatha gave her a rare smile.

"A-are you sure?" Lois stammered "I-I mean I'm not so sure that I'm the best person for the job."

"Let's be frank here, Ms. Lane," Lucius Fox said "Several months ago, you have performed a serious of articles regarding Lex Luthor. Since Luthor is such a prominent figure and his company is in a relationship with Wayne Incorporation, a few rough drafts of your articles, as well as the information you have collected, have been sent to us. The information and the details it claimed was astounding."

"The Wayne Incorporation, the Wayne family and all close associates sponsor a certain organization who became interested with your findings," Thomas picked up. "Recently, you've heard that the Wayne Incorporation has a net worth of a trillion dollars, correct?"

"Yes," Lois stretched the word, unsure of where this was going.

"The Wayne family has reached that status a decade ago," Bruce informed her "The only reason we've kept it under wraps is because we had to fund certain groups who wish to remain quiet until, and only unless, the world demands for it."

The four heads could see the light bulb turn on in her head "Do you mean…the Bat Clan?"

The phone rang, as well as Bruce and Thomas's phones. "Excuse us," the two brothers stood up, and walked towards the other end of the room.

"To answer your question, yes," Lucius Fox answered Lois. "Their representative told us that the information you've recovered was essential in discovering a plot to destroy either Blüdhaven or Gotham. We do not know the details, but we were assured that Superman has been informed of it and was requested to stop Luthor for doing so."

"Superman hates the Bat Clan," Lois pointed out. "I don't think he'll listen."

"We'll have to worry about that later," Agatha said "But what do you say? Do you accept the position, even if it's only a trial run?"

Lois frowned. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I may have to decline. I'm not sure I clearly understand why exactly I'm being hired."

Lucius smiled "Because you're not afraid to find the truth, and you will make sure that whatever is censored, it'll stay as close to the truth as possible for the general public to know. That and you are damn skilled, independent woman who doesn't take shit from anybody."

"And what if I find something incriminating against Wayne Incorporation?" Lois wondered.

Lucius Fox merely smiled at her "I suggest you make sure it's correct before you allow it to publish. And please send all of the information the reporter discovered. If an employee of Wayne Incorporation is corrupt, we'd like to know."

"Lucius," The Wayne brothers returned. Bruce was frowning deeply now, worry etched into his face. Thomas was scowling in anger. "There's been an incident at the Central City Mall," Bruce straightened his tie, and for the first time, Lois could clearly see a side of the man people heard of but have never seen; a man concerned for his family. "Wally's been shot."

* * *

After the Mall incident

(Nightwing POV)

He stared at Wally's prone form, still unconscious. Coma? Thank God it wasn't. The monitor beeped slightly, indicating that all his vitals were stable.

Who knew, though, that the new medicine that he took had consequences? It just needed time for Wally's body to get used to it. And it needed to be pumped into Wally's body regularly for that to happen. But Wally was supposed to only take it when he needed it, or he could become addicted. It was complicated.

Zee sat next to him, Maria asleep next to Wally on the hospital bed. Bella, Wally's cousin, had insisted that Wally have his new skateboard nearby. She told Maria that Wally was going to be okay, logically stating that since her new Abby Kadabby doll kept her brave, Wally's skateboard would help him heal. Maria believed the logic of her fellow three-year old, and happily accepted star sticker Bella gave her, a prize for bravery that Batgirl had given her.

What made his blood boil though were the actions of the Leaguer's sidekicks. Pulling strings, something he rarely did, he and Zee watched the camera footage right next to Superman. Normally, he'd be fanboying so hard upon meeting the Man of Steel, but all he managed was a thin smile, and punching him in the face when Superman said that he understood their pain, but leave it to the 'professionals' when it came to things like this. Maybe it was growing up in Gotham and living in Blüdhaven that made him distrust the 'professionals'. The Grayson-Waynes got their way, of course, especially after Zee threatened to castrate Superman if he refused one more time. Surprisingly, it worked.

Once it was over, only two questions rang in Dick's mind; why the hell did the mini Leaguers think that civilian safety was not a priority, and would Wally want to even continue being an active member of the Bat Clan? He had an inkling of an idea for the first, but was utterly blank on the second. Reasons why Wally would stay and why he'd leave ran through his mind, and he wasn't sure which one to pick. Did that make him a bad parent, to not know what his kid's thinking about?

"Do you want to stay here all night," Dick whispered to his wife, afraid of waking up his two children. He already knew the answer, but oh God anything to break the silence.

"Yeah," she replied. "Tim's busy?"

"Luthor's gala, second night," Dick answered. It went unneeded that afterwards, the Bats on the original mission would administer the antidote for the mini Leaguers. The mini Leaguers would forget what happened, as was the most-likely scenario, and Barry and Iris would explain the situation however they wanted to, even if they wanted to mention Wally. They wouldn't speak a word of what happened; Dick would make sure. They were both invited to the Central City Wayne Technology branch tomorrow for clarification.

Wally stirred, and Dick snapped his head up. But his son didn't wake up.

"You should get some sleep," Dick told Zee, wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Not a chance," Zee laid her head back, closing her eyes. "Not until he wakes up at least."

He put his cheek on top of her head, keeping one eye shut and the other on his children. It was going to be a long night, and tomorrow would be longer still.

* * *

(Wally POV)

Once he heard about how all the Leaguers were injected and hopefully on their way to be cured, Wally didn't want to stay another minute. There was no reason to. He didn't ask for the mission details, only making a simple request to go home. Dick and Zee didn't argue, getting the jet ready to leave a day after Wally woke up. He spent a full day in the hotel with Tim and the others, before getting ready to leave.

Artemis greeted him by the private Wayne jet the next morning, standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Hey," she hugged him tightly.

"Hey," he kissed her.

She smiled "How's the shoulder?"

Wally shrugged with his good one "Been better. Honestly, I'm just really glad to be going home right now. I can't stay another minute here."

"Wally!"

He turned to find Iris running up to him. She stopped a few feet away, hands resting on her knees as she was catching her breathe. "Aunt Iris?" Wally walked up to her, "What are you doing here?"

Iris straightened up. "Wally, there's something you need to know. The gang members at the park, they're there because of Barry."

"Well yeah, but," Wally frowned; was she about to tell him why? "What are you trying to say?"

She pulled out a folded paper folder from her purse "Read this. A Lois Lane article caught my eye, and I did a little bit more digging around." Her face hardened "I found out more then I wanted to."

"Why are you giving this to me?" Wally asked her.

Iris smiled sadly at him "Like I said, I found out more then I wanted to. I'm sure I just reached the tip of the ice berg, but I think this hunch is right. You should read it."

Wally accepted the folder "Oh, this is Artemis by the way," he motioned towards his blonde girlfriend "She's my girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you," Iris smiled.

"Yeah, you too," Artemis's smile looked a little strained, Wally noted.

"I should get going," Iris waved good-bye, before heading towards a black car. An unknown driver opened the door for her, probably a Wayne Inc. employee.

"We should get going," Artemis held his hand "Everyone's waiting." Wally shoved the folder into his backpack before following his girlfriend up the stairs and into the jet.

The interior of the plane was just as fancy as before, only this time there were six new occupants. Maria spent her time playing with Babs and Jason, a really weird trio. Jade and Lian were flying the plane. Connor Luthor, for some reason, was sitting apart from everyone else with Steph Brown for company. "Hey Wally, Artemis," Dick called over "I want you guys to see something." He, Zee and Tim were all sitting around a table, papers laid out in front of them. "Do you recognize this girl Wally?"

It took him a moment, but he did. "Yeah, she took out a few goons. What happened to her? Who is she?"

"She snuck away, eventually," Tim answered "But what's really interesting is her identity."

"Kitrina Falcone, granddaughter of Carmine Falcone!" Artemis exclaimed "My sisters and I met her and her family years ago. I thought she went clean and joined Selena as Catgirl."

"She did for a while, before disappearing," Zee explained "Her uncle was closing in on her, and I guess she didn't want to live under his thumb though."

"Hasn't really picked up a mask since then," Tim commented.

Wally picked up the picture of the former hero. Did she still felt the thrill of the gig, the adrenaline that comes with saving people? Did she still feel that after so many years?

If he quit the gig, would he still feel that after years?

* * *

(Dick POV)

He noticed Wally's inner turmoil, but kept quiet about it on the plane ride home. He knew Artemis talked to him about it, but whatever was said between the two was kept a secret. Dick didn't pry until later that night, when he found Wally sitting on the patio, staring out into nowhere.

"Mind if I join you?" Dick asked softly.

Wally shrugged "Go ahead."

He took a seat down, handing Wally a can of lemonade while he opened his bottle of beer. "I didn't ask about Martha and her son."

Dick glanced at Wally in surprised, but felt a stab of worry and pity when he saw the look on his son's face. "You did, several times actually. They're both fine, healthy. Bruce is paying her ten thousand a month for six months, so she could pull herself together, raise her son for a while, and find a better job. He offered to pay for a therapist, but she declined, saying they had done enough for her."

Silence, then "It's my fault that Alan-"

"Don't even go there," Dick warned. He gripped his shoulder "Wally, I saw the footage. You did the best you could while maintaining your cover."

Wally didn't respond, letting his lemonade can drop. Dick set aside his beer, and wrapped his arms around Wally "That's the thing," his son muttered "I don't want to have to choice between my secret identity and another person's life. It's not fair to that person."

"I know," Dick kissed the top of his head, feeling Wally's tears as they splattered onto his shirt "I know buddy. It sucks. And sometimes you don't have a choice, because sometimes the good of the many out-weighs the good of the few. It's complicated, and there's no perfect solution to this."

"I hate that," Wally gasped "I hate it I hate it. And I can't run away. No matter how far I go I can't run away because it always comes back to be and it's a complete and utter bitch."

He had a feeling that there was more to the story than seeing several people die, but he didn't press. When Wally was ready, he'd tell him. And maybe it'll most likely come at the most inconvenient time and he'll probably yell at him for it, but he wouldn't want to hear it until Wally was ready. Still, he'd try to comfort him as much as he could now "You had to make a decision. And you made the right one. Because even though a few people died today, you survived, and Wally, I know that you're going to save a lot more lives in the future, whether as a scientist, a doctor, or as a hero. You're a good guy Wally, no matter what you chose to do in life."

"Thanks Dad," Wally croaked.

Dick smiled and kissed the top of his head again "Don't worry son. You'll be okay."


	12. Initiation

Chapter ten:Initial and Initiation

(Wally POV)

A month later and Wally still hadn't told anyone about what was in the folder that Aunt Iris gave him.

'_Should I even call her my Aunt right now?_' he asked himself for the millionth time, running a hand through his hair, something he'd seen Dick do when he was anxious or tired. '_I know who I am, and who I look up to. But…I don't know. Should they know? And does Dick know?_'

He wrestled with those questions for the past month, trying to figure out whether or not he should tell anyone. He tried to be as sneaky as he could, research what he could without anyone knowing. But unfortunately for him, the only way to know for sure was to visit Gotham. Volunteering to visit the crime capitol of America would raise questions he didn't want to answer or lie about.

He decided that it would be better to wait until after the initiation ceremony for Connor to tell Nightwing about it; after all, despite so many people having joined, it wasn't everyday that a Bat was initiated. And Connor was also Meta who joined the Clan, something Batman didn't really let join unless he had a really good reason.

'_That's makes…four of us now. Four Bats with powers, awesome!'_ he left the folder on the main computer keyboard, along with a sticky note that said that it was specifically only for Batman, Nightwing, and Mistress Magic, and to contact Strike for more information. He could only hope that nosey people such as Tim Drake and Damian Wayne won't snoop around in it; although he wouldn't be surprised if Tim already knew.

He left the main room of the Batcave and joined the others up in the rafters of the next room. It was oath-room, which had its humble beginnings when Dick Grayson swore to leave behind his old life and begin a life of saving people alongside Batman. "What took you so long?" Archer Green whispered, taking hold of his hand.

"Just a little something I had to take care of," he whispered back, squeezing her hand "Don't worry about it."

"Don't worry about it?" she hissed "Strike, you've been acting odd for the past month. You've told no one-"

"Shut-up!" Someone, probably Arsenal, hissed from a beam nearby "You'll give us away!"

A.G. stopped, but Strike knew that it was far from over.

They waited in silence for the nearly five minutes, when the door below opened, and a shadow appeared in the light. The shadow grew larger and larger, and Strike could see Connor Luthor step inside.

He wore regular clothes, torn and tattered. '_Whoa, what the hell did Big Bat make him go through?_' Strike wondered. The first step of the initiation was the Gauntlet, when the new recruit, after months of training, would have to complete. To become a Robin, you had to escape Batman's notice for an entire night. To become a regular Bat, he couldn't catch you. Catching a glimpse, sure, that was fine. If he caught you, meaning that you were completely immobile and had no way of escaping, then you didn't make the cut. However, you were placed with Spyral, and became one of the top spies in the world, sometimes available for hire by others.

Connor stopped nearly halfway down the room. "I didn't think that 'not getting caught' included having to save my own ass from getting killed," he growled.

"It wasn't anything you couldn't handle," Batman replied, also growling. It was like watching two male lions circle each other. "You escaped didn't you? And I was testing a theory. Kryptonite wasn't as effective to you as it is to the other full blooded Kryptonians. But you didn't break. You saved the civilians."

"So that was part of your plan too?" Connor slammed his hand on the table "Having people held hostage?"

"It wasn't," Batman told him "And I was about to join in. But you managed it. You saved those women from being sold by Maroni's gang. And you did it while confined, at your weakest point. That proves to me that you will help people no matter what the personal cost is to you."

'_Weakest point,_' Strike thought. '_How the hell did Maroni get kryptonite?'_

Connor remained silent. Then "I have your approval, don't I? That's why, when I found the box, the coordinates showed me here, to the Batcave."

Batman said nothing.

Connor seemed to stand up taller "So what now?"

"A promise," Batman said. Strike heard the sound of a match being struck against a matchbox. A moment later, a candle was lit, revealing a book underneath; either a Bible or the Bat-rule book, "A pact, an oath. Will you take it? Will you join the Bat Clan of your own free will?"

"I will," Connor vowed.

"Then put your hand on the book."

The only part of the book that was lit from the candle was covered by Connor's hand. Strike could see a few scratches on them, nearly healed.

"Will you protect the innocent to the best of your abilities?" Batman asked.

"I will."

"Will you, if times call for it, come to the defense of the human race in times of need?"

I will."

"Will you refrain from killing, to be better than the ones who destroy the lives of the innocent?"

"I will."

"Now, do you swear that you will uphold what you said you will do?"

"I swear."

"Do you swear to fight against corruption and crime, and to never swerve from the path of justice?"

"I swear."

"Do you swear to uphold the laws this book, on which you are swearing upon?"

"I swear."

"Do you swear to look into the eyes of your enemies, see them for who they are, to the best of your ability, and to what's right and necessary?"

"I swear."

Connor never hesitated every time he answered. Was he as nervous as he felt when Wally first took the oath?

"And now I swear to you, on behalf of myself and the Clan," Batman set the candle down, and placed his own hand on the book. "Years ago, the first Batgirl made a promise to a new one. She promised that when her new successor took up the mantle and went out at night, she would not be alone. The first Batgirl's guidance and support will be with her successor for as long as she wanted it. I swear to you that for as long as you are a member of this Clan, for as long as you need it, the Clan will give guidance, and support. Until death, we will be there for you. And you are one of us."

"I won't let you down," Connor vowed. "I swear I won't."

"Congratulations, Connor," Dim lights went on; filling the room with an orange glow "You are now a member of the Bat Clan."

As if on cue, a banner fell behind Batman, which said 'CONGRATS CONNER!'

Strike, along with the other Bats, jumped down, using the grappling hooks to slow their descent. "Congrats!" Everyone shouted. Stephanie Brown, aka Spoiler, was the first to approach Connor, giving him a big hug.

"I'm so proud!" she squealed. "Did you know that in that last part Batman was talking about me?"

"Um no?" The look of surprise on his face made Strike laugh.

"Dude," Strike zipped over, excited to meet him for the first time. "Quick question; were you, or were you not about to cry?"

"Um…" was his face a little red? "A little…I guess. I'm mean, not much."

"That's fine," Nightwing walked up to him, clapping him on the shoulder "Strike here was bawling his eyes out."

"Excuse you, _mother hen_," Strike shot back "But weren't you the one who was all like 'Oh my little boy is all grown up!'? I'm sure Batman has the tape around here somewhere."

When the small group looked to where the Dark Knight was, there was nothing left, expect for a small USB drive. Strike grabbed it before anyone else could.

"You haven't picked out a name yet," Red Robin's voice spoke from behind Strike.

"Geez!" Strike jumped, "Way to give a man a heart attack!"

"I haven't thought of one," Connor said.

"Bluff," the Spoiler had her arm around his shoulders "You thought of one, didn't you?"

He gave them a half-shrug, and then said "I was thinking…maybe Prime Fury?"

"Like Night Fury?" Strike wondered.

"Cool name," Suddenly, Nightwing frowned, pressing the nearly hidden comm link in his ear "Hello?"

Without saying a word, he walked out of the room.

"What was that all about?" Connor asked.

"Eh," Strike shrugged, but a part of him couldn't help but worry. "Maybe our favorite taco place got held up or something. It has priority when we don't have better things to do."

* * *

(Zatanna POV)

Salem Massachusetts was still cold, and she wouldn't be surprised if snow started to fall from the dark clouds above despite it being late spring. She held out her hand towards the empty space, and demanded, "Nabu, I seek audience of your presence."

The world was quiet. Then, the wind stirred, gently at first, before picking up speed. When nothing happened, Zatanna threw a small ball of magic, identifying herself. The ball hit something solid, and dispersed. A moment later, a gigantic tower shimmered into existence. "Thank-you," she said to no one in particular.

She walked towards the doors, which automatically opened for her. Once inside, she manually closed the doors, sealing her fate.

"Who seeks entrance into the Tower of Fate," A realistic image of Kent Nelson flickered into appearance before she could step further into the tower "Are you friend or foe?"

In reply, she once more sent a tiny ball of her own magic towards the image. Once it hit the image, the figure of Kent Nelson smiled, and opened his arms wide. "Welcome, Zatanna Zatara, friend of my most talented student, Giovanni Zatara."

"Thanks, gramps," Zatanna whispered as the image faded away. But her instincts were on high alert. The image seemed much too dramatic from the last time she saw him, and the last time was when the real Kent Nelson was alive.

Cautiously, though maybe it was just paranoia from all those years she worked as a Bat, she walked further into the Tower of Fate. It was hard to navigate through without a good practice in magic. She was proud to say that she was the best, even better than what Batman knew. She could feel magic bouncing around in the air, disrupting the three dimensions humans normally lived in. But she kept her ground inside; she held a clear train of thought and didn't let herself become overwhelmed.

"Zatanna Zatara," Nabu himself appeared high above her as Dr. Fate. The surroundings focused themselves into a tower with various floating platforms in the air. He floated down until he was right in front of her.

"The Great Nabu," her voice was flat, and hard, "A Lord of Order. I suppose murder is order as well, right?"

Dr. Fate didn't take his helmet off. "Your father and your cousin got in the way. They weren't strong enough to-"

"Bullshit," Zatanna cut him off. "Zachary Zatara and Klarion killed my father and the true host of Dr. Fate for the power of the Helmet. I know what happened that night."

Dr. Fate paused. She hated the fact that she couldn't see anything beneath the mask. "I don't understand why you're confronting me now. What's the importance?"

Zatanna was caught off guard, but made sure to mask her face with a scowl. Could she have been wrong? She knew that she was strong enough to detect the true life source of the real person who wore the helmet. She thought he was strong enough to as well, but kept her secret identity quiet because of some lingering infatuation. Perhaps her presence at the Hall of Justice caught him off guard. But maybe she was wrong. "Mistress Magic," Zatanna replied. "I assume you know her secret identity?"

"Yes," Dr. Fate said after a moment.

"Rosemary told me that you have information regarding a certain escaped Arkham Asylum inmate," Zatanna said, substituting the real identity of Mistress Magic. Did he really know, or was he bluffing? "I need to know where he is. The Joker has hurt one of my family members, and I need to make sure that she's safe."

"I don't know how Rosemary got that information," Dr. Fate floated down, standing a few feet in front of her. "But she is correct."

'_Oh Nelson,_' Zatanna thought '_You thought you could fool me? The way you speak, the way you 'fell' for the wrong name…you're not the only one who learned something new from the past few years.'_

"Well?" Zatanna demanded "Tell me."

"He's in Central City, bidding his time," Dr. Fate, or rather the man behind, started to walk towards her. "Luthor and someone called Ra's Al Ghul are keeping him for something big that they planned." He stopped right in front of her, his helmet touching her nose.

Up close, she could see his face flickering between two people. It went by quickly, and only with years of experience was she actually able to recognize it.

"Two bodies in one," she snarled, backing away from him, bidding herself some time. She knew he thought he had she fooled, "How does that feel?"

He placed his hands on her upper arms, "Being fooled, how does _that_ feel Mistress Magic?"

She shrugged his hands off "It hurts a lot less than to be betrayed. I still remember that night."

"Do you?" Nabu the Lord of Order was compromised. He had been for the past few years. "Then you know that it wasn't our fault. You know that Kent Nelson's grand-nephew was responsible for-"

"Save it," Zatanna cut it. "Save your lies for someone who'll believe them. I know what _you_ did. After all, I am the greatest magician in the world."

"Arrogance leads you nowhere," Dr. Fate pointed out. "That's what Nelson taught us."

"Among other things," Zatanna clenched her fists, but held her temper in check. "There were three of us, we grew up together. We were all trained so that one day, one of us would take up the mantle of Dr. Fate. I was chosen. Don't you remember?"

"It was my birthright!" Dr. Fate's hands glowed orange as fire appeared in them. She managed to dodge it just in time, the tip of her nose singed by the heat. "And it was Zachary's birthright! We are the children of his siblings, you were the outsider! You had no right!"

"I had every right!" Zatanna dodged another fireball. "Nabu is not a thing to be passed down a certain family line!" She threw up a shield to defend herself against the onslaught of his attacks.

"He chooses the worthy to take up his mantle!" she returned a few attacks of her own, throwing lightning bolt after lightning bolt at him. One finally hit him in the chest. "The Great Nabu had chosen me! He saw the evil and greed in your hearts."

She ran towards him. As she did, Zatanna ordered their surroundings to take form of a large dungeon. She had Dr. Fate chained up against the wall. "What I want to know," She placed her hands on either side of his helmet "is how you managed to subdued him to your will."

She lifted the helmet off, revealing the brown eyes and blonde hair of Kent V. Nelson, the grand-nephew of the late Kent Nelson, and three years her senior. "You were there that night," the harden face looked up at her, his voice losing its volume. "You know who else had helped me."

She had her suspicions, and she hoped she was wrong. "Klarion," she said, her hands gripping the Helmet even tighter. He was her friend, and despite the closeness of their age, her student as well.

She had thought that he went back to Limbo town, an underground place inhabited by the descendants of the Puritan witches of the lost Roanoke Island and located right under New York City. The members were known to keep to themselves and help out the Bats of NYC every once in a while. Klarion escaped, wanting to find his father Mordacai and ending up finding Dr. Fate because of all the chaos he caused. It took a while, but Klarion eventually accepted to learn under Zatanna, whose mother had been a witch. Zatanna learned everything there was to know about being a witch from her mother Sindella, a former resident of Limbo town, and later passed the knowledge onto Klarion. He left right after the fiasco where he, Zachary Zatara (her cousin) and Nelson had ended up killing both Kent Nelson Senior and her father. It brought the attention of the Bat Clan, where she met Dick. She tried to search for Klarion, but could never find him. The other two disappeared as well, though Nelson become Dr. Fate and a member of the Justice League.

"Don't you want to know what happened to him?" Nelson egged on, his eyes narrowed in anger and spite.

Zatanna bowed her head, eyes focused on the Helmet. The little battle they had had cost her barely any amount of her energy. But continuing this was a waste of time. Never go out angry, and never, ever make it personal. "I know what happened to him," she said softly. She couldn't be one-hundred percent sure, but she knew him better than anyone else. "But that doesn't concern me right now. I have the information I came to look for."

Under her breath, she started to chant a spell she spent months on devising.

"What are you doing?" Nelson's voice elevated in pitch, sounding panicked. "Zatanna, I said _WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?_"

She pushed his shouts out of her mind, focusing on her spell. Her head started to feel light headed, and something hard hit her knees. She couldn't see anything but the bright yellow glow of the helmet. "_Fin,_" she ended, pulling her hands away from the Helmet of Fate, which clattered onto the stone floor. In her left hand was the Cloak of Destiny, and in the other was the Amulet of Anubis. Her vision cleared, but her head still felt light. "I'm done with you." She stood up, careful to hide her fatigue. "Nabu only possess the Helmet. His power now belongs to you. But the Cloak and the Amulet are not his. I have unwoven their power from the Helmet. We're done."

Zatanna highly doubted her last words to him. She put on the Cloak and the Amulet, both of which had given her enough strength to make it through the Tower, and out the door. Nelson's shouts grew farther and farther away.

Outside, it started to drizzle. The Tower was still in existence. She slumped against the nearest tree, a large oak. She pulled out her phone, and typed in the Joker's location to Batman. She added '_Need Nightwing._'

Until her husband would come, she decided to lay down, and stare of the gray clouds.

* * *

(Back in the Tower)

He felt her leave, and then dropped the façade.

The Tower went back into Chaos, just the way he like it. A cat curled around his feet, purring.

"She didn't realize it was us, Teeki," Klarion the lifted his beloved familiar. "Ah well, it happens."

He snapped his fingers, and the bodies of Nelson Junior and Zachary Zatara appeared. He had put them in a coma, using a part of their souls to fuel his needs, but he knew they could hear everything he said. "Tanna didn't recognize me," he pouted, feeling his anger grow inside of him. "I thought she would. I thought she was different. But instead," He held out his hand towards Nelson Junior.

"She thought I was you, Junior. And you know what that means?" he cackled, hurt and anger blinding him "That means your soul is ALL MINE!" The silvery soul of Kent V. Nelson was lifted through the mouth and sucked into the long, sharp fingertips of Klarion. With another snap of his fingers, the body exploded.

"I feel so much better," Klarion growled. He dropped Teeki. "BUT IT'S JUST NOT FAIR! NOT FAIR AT ALL! I LOVED HER! SHE LOVED ME! BUT SHE DIDN'T RECOGNIZE ME! ARGGHHHH"

He sent out blasts of energy, fueling out his anger. But when his eyes settled on the Helmet of Fate, he stopped.

He gripped the helmet in his hands, and dropped to his knees, "She didn't know who I was," he sobbed. Clutching the Helmet against his chest in one hand, he crawled over to Zack, right over the remains of Nelson Junior. He held Zack as well, who was, once upon a time, a friend. "She didn't know who I was," he repeated, whispering in Zack's ear. "I was her first."

* * *

(Nightwing POV)

He had changed into his civvies when he took off on his jet, the Wing-Jet. It took twenty minutes for him to reach Zatanna's coordinates, and he wasted no time in landing the jet and rushing towards her. He said nothing, only scooping her up in his arms. "I'm here," he whispered "I'm here." He wanted to tell her off for going ahead with her plan, for talking to Dr. Fate. But he didn't. He couldn't.

"Eat something," he urged her, taking off his backpack.

"Hmm-kay," she mumbled, pulling the golden cloak even tighter against her body.

'_That must be the Cloak of Destiny,_' he realized. '_She got the belt too, doesn't she?_'

He gently fed her hot chicken-noodle soup, until she was strong enough to eat herself. As she was, he opened up an umbrella, and together, the two huddled underneath as the rain started to fall a bit more heavily. "What happened," he asked her as soon as she finished.

"What I thought would happen," she replied, then replayed the events that occurred not even an hour ago.

"Zee," he said, pulling her even closer to him.

"No," she told him "I won't talk about what happen that night all those years ago. Not now, not here; later, when we go home."

And when they were home, cuddling on the couch with the sun starting to shine through their living room window, two mugs of hot chocolate in their hands (because why the hell not?), she told him exactly what happened that night a few years ago, with Klarion her first, Zach her cousin, Nelson her rival, Giovanni her father, and Kent Nelson her teacher. "That's a lot of stress for you these past few hours," Dick remarked, gently rubbing her stomach. "Take it easy for us, will you?"

"I will," she gave him a tired smile "What happened to Connor's initiation?"

"It went well," Dick told her. "Maroni apparently still has the box of Kryptonite Connor himself had delivered years ago. It's being taking care of that. And," here he hesitated.

"Dick," Zatanna sat up straighter, "What's wrong?"

It took him a moment, but he inhaled deeply, and looked at his wife "Wally learned something about his past."

He could see the alarm going off in her head "What did learn?" She asked, her voice nearly trembling.

"The only thing he did learn" Dick said "is that Barry Allen is his biological father."

Zee sighed, and leaned back on the couch "Oh thank-goodness," she breathed "Thank-goodness."


	13. Under Shadows

Chapter Eleven: In Shadow

(Wally POV)

He, the two people he considered his parents, and Bruce had talked about the file Iris gave him. Wally was even shown the police files of what had happened during his adoption. But something was still off. They weren't telling him everything. They weren't telling him what he already knew but withheld from them.

All Bruce said of the missing pieces was that some things needed to stay buried. And some things are worth moving forward for. The most frightening thing was Wally _knew_ they suspected he felt there was something missing. And he was scared that it might make them take steps to prevent him from learning the whole truth.

Which was why he was meeting with Amy Rohrbach, unannounced. Well, there wasn't any actual solid reasoning why he should meet with her, other than the fact that the idea was so stupid they wouldn't even think of it. Sometimes, all you needed was a dumb idea.

So, he decided to skip school (on the pretenses that he was ill) and head over to Amy's place. She usually had Tuesdays off. He was five blocks from her place when he realized he was being followed. _'Shit_', he thought, walking faster. He swerved into an alley, and quickly climbed fire escape, stopping at the first open window. He glanced around to see no one inside, and tossed his backpack in before climbing in.

What he missed before was the sleeping figure on a mattress, surrounded by beer bottles. The next thing he saw was an entire board dedicated to the Grayson-Waynes.

"What the hell?" he breathed. There were several pictures of them going about their daily lives. He took a step closer, taking a note of the pictures. Some of them seemed to be taken from Zee's Italian class, some from CCTV cameras, and other still were pictures taken of the four of them in their house. Under the caption of one of them was Zatanna=Magic?

'_Holy shit, this isn't good._' The creaks on the staircase behind him distracted him. '_Whoever's following me must be close.'_

"Shit, shit, shit," he muttered under his breath. He snuck out through the door, making a mental note to himself that he would check his place later. Wally took a quick note of the short hallway; there was a bathroom door to the left and a kitchen to the right. The sound of a keyboard typing in the living made him pause.

'_Of course,_' he thought, trying hard not to sigh, or make any other noise for that matter. '_Just my luck_.' The floor boards creaked slowly behind him, in the bedroom. He ducked into the bathroom, and hid in the bathtub, praying that he wouldn't get caught.

'_The Universe hates me.'_ Wally concluded. He held his breath as he heard a quiet shuffling go by the bedroom door. '_Please think I'm not here, please think I'm not here._' He begged, clutching his backpack close to his chest.

Several moments passed, which turned into minutes. The typing in the other room stopped.

There was a large grunt, and the sound of duck-tape.

Okay, now he was curious. Footsteps walked passed the bathroom door, and a few moments later, something heavy was being dragged across.

He thought he heard someone saying something, before hearing a loud _thump_. Wally winced. '_That's gotta hurt.'_ But now was his chance! He crept out of the bathroom, and towards the bedroom. He pulled himself through the window, and down the fire exit. Without looking back, he quickly walked the rest of the way to Amy's place.

The identity of his follower and who the hell those people were could wait. Now, he another mystery to solve.

* * *

(Black Canary POV)

A blond hair, blue-eyed man paced back and forth across the studio, his hands clasped behind his back. "So the question becomes," he started to end his long-winded speech "Why the hell are we still allowing the Justice League to continue? It's _clearly_ obvious that their first priority is not the people, as we can _clearly_ see from this tape right here." His arm, once again, pointed to the large screen TV behind him, where the clip of two Young Justice Members were seen moving away from the armed gunman, targeting a group of civilians in the Central City mall. "I say ban the Justice League! Ban the-"

The TV turned off. The meeting room of the Justice League, located at the center of the Hall of Justice, remained quiet for several moments, each member pondering the consequences of Godfrey's words.

The Flash was the first to speak. "This guy's been going at it for the past month," He commented, annoyed "Nit-picking everything we do. Yeesh, hasn't he heard of a hobby?"

"The damage caused by Godfrey has the public up in a panic," Black Canary stated "People are calling for the downfall of the Justice League. They want the Bat Clan to take over, which is honestly a surprise. Not a lot of information about the Clan is made public except for what people say about them." Her eyes scanned the others members of the League, quickly, taking in their expressions.

"They're nothing but a group of normal humans wearing tights," Superman spit out "They have no reason to be fighting crime." The Boy Scout was still sour about the escape of the Red Hood and Strike. He didn't even bother looking into the message left by Mistress Magic; a big mistake, in Black Canary's opinion.

"Uh I hate to blow a hole in your thinking, but isn't that what the police do?" Captain Marvel pointed out.

"That's different," Superman countered "They work for the law. These guys, this so-called Bat Clan, they don't. They're nothing but a group of vigilantes."

"But Godfrey is using the fact that they're humans and we're not against us," Wonder Woman pointed "We need to figure out what we are going to do."

"Here's what we can do," Superman looked around at the room, where the entire Justice League was assembled "We need to prove to the people that the Bat Clan is not what they need. We need to bring them evidence that _we_ are what they need, not a bunch of vigilantes."

"And how are we going to do that?" Green Lantern Stewart asked.

"The first step is to spy on them." Superman's reply stunned the League.

Members looked at each other, slightly nervous. "Um are you sure?" Flash asked "I mean, isn't the Clan supposed to be a master of disguise?"

"I haven't heard anything of the sort," Superman frowned "Where did you hear that?"

Wonder Woman cut in. "If there's a reason they've evaded the League so far, that must be it."

He seemed a little dubious about the answer, but didn't question it and instead pulled up a holographic map in the center of the table. "These are the known locations of the Bat cities so far," Four red dots blinked into existence, "Gotham City, Blüdhaven, New York City and Star City. There will be at least two members posted in each city. Any volunteers?"

Flash immediately offered "I'll go to Star City. It's right by Central."

"I'll go with you," Cyborg offered. "I know I'm not that discreet, but I got family over there who knows what happened to me. I can trust them to stay quiet."

"I'll go to New York City," The Atom said. "There's a science convention over there, so my cover shouldn't be too hard."

"I'll join you," the Martian Manhunter said. "After all, it was my hometown."

"I'll go to Gotham City," Black Canary volunteered. "I have an uncle there."

"I'll join you," Wonder Woman offered.

'_Good,_' she thought. '_Diana knows the Bats aren't the biggest enemies._'

"I met Bruce Wayne once. It shouldn't be too hard to have him show me around." The Amazonian princess continued.

"You want a _playboy _showing you around?" Superman asked rather sourly.

"Do I detect a hint of overprotectiveness?" Wonder Woman smirked.

"Of course not," Superman denied. "Why would you think that?"

Dr. Fate cut in "I'll go to Blüdhaven. I have a bone to pick with Mistress Magic."

Black Canary frowned. "The point of this is reconnaissance-"

"I won't start a fight with her," he snapped. The other members of the League stared at him, some shifting nervously. Ever since his fight, he hadn't been acting the same. His manner seemed more…off. He grew more and more reckless, and the fact that his power had greatly lessened didn't help with his temper at all.

There was a silence for a few minutes, until Superman broke it, speaking to the elephant in the room "Ever since your battle-"

"I know," Dr. Fate had crossed his arms, squeezing his hands together. He looked odd, different, without his cape or his belt. He wouldn't go into details as to what happened. Black Canary doubted he would have said anything about the battle if the evidence of it wasn't obvious. "Does anyone want to join me?"

'_He sounds like a petulant child,_' she noted. '_What _happened_?'_

"I'll go with him," Rocket spoke up. The twenty-six year-old was among the youngest members of the League. "I've a friend I can talk to. I'll just tell her I'm visiting for a few days."

"That settles it than," Superman concluded. "That's two each for each of the known cities. Now, let's talk about the crisis in the Congo."

* * *

(Wally POV)

Amy lived in an apartment building, tall, and not too far away from the BPD Headquarters.

He knocked on the door, hoping that she was actually inside and not out. He knocked again, and a few moments later she opened to door.

"Wally!" Amy exclaimed, surprised to see him. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Yeah about that," he fidgeted with the strap of his backpack. "There's something I need to talk to you about."

She frowned. "Alright," she hesitated, and then moved aside, opening the door further to let him in. "Come in. I'm just having a cup of coffee. Want one?"

"No thanks, I'm good."

It was slightly untidy inside, and the TV was on low volume. Amy took a seat in an armchair, her hands hugging a cup of coffee, and Wally sat on the loveseat. "What did you need to talk about?" she asked.

Wally pulled out the file Iris gave him, and held it up. "When I visited Aunt Iris a few weeks ago," Something seemed to pass through Amy's eyes at the mention of Iris. He made a mental note "she gave me this folder. When I walked to Dick, Zee, and Bruce about it, I got the feeling that they weren't telling me everything." He handed her the folder.

She flipped through the pages inside, her eyes scanning through everything. "This has to do with your adoption. And you think it links with…" she picked up a paper, the article Lois Lane wrote he realized, "Rumors about Wayne Incorporation's R&amp;D testing…of "immoral genetic manipulation"?" she quoted.

Her voice sounded curious, almost casual. "Yeah," Wally said, suddenly wondering if she would actually tell him everything she knew.

Amy bit her lip, and he could see her struggling internally. "Wally," she put the file down on the coffee table. "How exactly do you think this connects?"

He laid out all of the pieces of paper. "Okay," he tapped at the Lois Lane article. "So Aunt Iris told me that this article got her curious. Then, she dug a little more, and somehow, these research papers, thoroughly incomplete. One of them talks about Rudolph and Mary West participating in an experiment, along with Barry Allen and his wife at the time, Margaret Allen." He looked up to find her staring at the papers with a blank face.

'_Okay, a little creepy_,' he thought. He continued. "After all of these failed experiments, at least that's what it looks like, the one with the Allens and the Wests seem to have succeeded. They made a child with _four_ parents."

"So what do you want from me?" Amy asked, sounding tired.

"You were involved with arresting the Wests," Wally looked at her. She seemed to be avoiding his eyes, intent on staring at her cup of coffee, which was probably cold by now. "A few years ago. And you did pretty great at finding them, considering that I wouldn't even speak about them."

"Has it ever occurred to you that Dick played a large part in the investigation," Amy asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Well, no," he admitted "Because that would mean…" That would have meant that they kept tabs on him all his throughout his life, well, at least the people in Wayne Inc. R&amp;D did. But surely someone would have told them right? Or maybe they didn't, maybe that's why no one saved him from a shitty life. Maybe they didn't keep tabs on him as well.

Bruce and Dick, especially Dick, wouldn't have let this happen to him. Not at all. His dad (and Dick was his father, despite his biology) would never let a kid live in a shitty home if he knew about it.

"The Allens got married at a young age," Amy said. Wally almost jumped, startled; he had forgotten she was in the room with him for a moment. "They were struggling to pay for college for Margaret, who still had two years left, and when the opportunity came back to get thousands of dollars for their sperm and egg in a testing development, they couldn't back down from it. They were each offered thirty thousand dollars." She took a sip of her cold coffee "Barry worked, but there was only so much he could earn, especially as the city was a lot shittier then."

"It must have been the same for the Wests, then," he mused, staring down at their profile. "They weren't really that great at tracking money. And then the Allens must have moved to Central, right? I mean, Bart was born there."

"They weren't supposed to know about the child, who would go to the Wests." Amy continued, almost as if Wally wasn't there. "But Margaret kept thinking about the child, even after she had her own with Barry. She graduated school, with a degree in criminal justice, and would have gone to the Police Academy right away if she hadn't been pregnant with Bart. So, they moved to Central. She didn't like it there."

"Amy," Wally interrupted "When you said she kept thinking about the child, it wasn't Bart was it?"

"No. It wasn't." Amy paused, and took a sip of her coffee. "Margaret also had her own ambitions. She wanted to be a cop. She went to the training academy in Central, but she wanted to move back to 'Haven. She applied for a transfer and got it but she and Barry were already arguing so much and then there was the reporter, Iris, and," she broke off. Amy wasn't crying, but her eyes were red and were swelling with tears.

Wally was a smart guy, yet there were somethings he tended to miss. But the way Amy was talking, and the way she was acting…

'_She had to have been twenty years old,_' Wally gripped the edge of the table, hands trembling at the thought that…'_But there're too many holes! It doesn't make sense!_'

He took a deep breath, looked up at Amy, and asked, though he knew the answer, "Margaret?"

She suddenly stood up, coffee mug dropping to the floor. "Go, Wally," she grabbed all the papers, shoved them in the folder, and thrust it towards him.

"But-"

"Just go, Walter. Don't ever speak of this again and I won't tell Dick."

"R-right," Wally stuffed the messy folder into his backpack.

He was about to leave when she grabbed his shoulder. He turned his head towards her. "There's still something you need to know. Where can I meet you tonight?"

"Jenkins Ave, down by Leslie's Hospital. I'm meeting up with a couple of friends to-"

"I'll meet you by the downstairs bathroom at 10pm," Amy interrupted. "Come alone. If any of your friends ask, it's just a file Dick needs to get, off the record."

"Right," he barely had any time to say anything else before she shoved him out of the apartment and slammed the door shut.

Staring at the door, his mind race nearly a million miles an hour. '_Holy shit,_' he pulled up his hoodie, walked down the stairs, just to give him time to think. '_Amy is, or rather was, Margaret Allen. But she changed her name. And there's the proof_.' He thought back to the Lois Lane article. He spent the past several weeks memorizing every word of it.

'_It talks about making a child with _four_ parents.'_ He almost reached the end of the stairs. '_But how's that possible? Damn it, I wished I paid more attention to biology. But the research notes weren't complete, which means some parts of it are still missing._'

Well, he'd either has to break into the Wayne Incorporated R&amp;D (which was one of the most heavily guarded places in the world) or he'd have to ask someone in the experiment. He doubted Amy would want to talk with him so soon…well she was giving him information later tonight. Barry would be ideal to talk to, as he was a scientist. But Wally didn't want to see him again so soon. The Leaguer had his own family issues to deal with. Wally didn't want to dump this on him as well.

'_But this means he knew._' Wally burst out of the apartment building, blinking at the sunlight._ 'When I went to visit, he _knew_ that I share a part of my DNA with him. And Iris probably figured things out with whatever she dug up, even if it was incomplete._'

That left…that left the Wests. But how much are they going to know? Those idiots-

He bumped into someone. "Sorry," he muttered.

They grabbed his arm "Hey-_Artemis?_" His eyes widened in surprised as he recognized his girlfriend.

"Wally!" she hugged him "We were so worried!"

"What're you doing here?"

"I could ask the same about you," she said. "Dick asked us if we knew where you were. We thought you ran off again."

"Wait? No! I didn't! I just-"he paused, and sighed "I guess it's easier if everyone thought that. How long were you following me?"

"I wasn't," she raised an eyebrow "I literally just bumped into you."

He could feel his heart skip a beat. '_Then who was following me earlier?_

She frowned, and her eyes widened in worry "Wally," she placed hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

He grimaced, "Boy, have I got a story for you."

* * *

(Amy POV)

It had been nearly ten minutes since he left, and she still hadn't cleaned up the spilled coffee.

"Why didn't you just tell him the truth?" Barry Allen stepped out from the bedroom.

She almost cursed the thin walls. "Because I couldn't. Because I don't even understand what's going on."

No one said anything for a while. Barry moved to sit on the same spot Wally sat on the loveseat until "Bart misses you. He wants to see you again."

"He doesn't even know I'm alive," she muttered. "It's best if we kept it that way."

"Why?" But Barry's voice had no sting to it. He knew why, just as well as she did.

"Because Margaret Allen worked under Lex Luthor," She hugged herself. "And I'm ashamed of that. Bart can't ever know, especially as Luthor is one of the main villains of the Justice League."

"Well, he can't know that his dad's working for Luthor either." It needed no explanation. They both knew why Barry was working for Luthor.

Nearly a year ago, Connor Luthor had managed to gain information on the Justice League, including the identities of some of the members. Luthor used that information and bribed Barry into working for him. The fact that he also used Margaret as incentive made it hard for Barry to refuse. The only people who knew about this were himself, Amy, and Iris, who only found out a little while ago.

Amy knew her ex-husband didn't randomly show up out of the blue for tiny things like this. There had to be a reason. "Why are you here," she asked him, fearing the worst.

Barry clasped his hands, and bowed his head. "Because I finished what Luthor asked me to make. And the final plan is set."

She could feel her heart hammering inside of her chest. "Which is…"

"There's going to be a chemical attack on Blüdhaven in ten-"

Barry gasped, and leaned over, falling from the couch. "Barry!" Amy rushed over to him as he lay there, body twitching and jerking around. His eyes rolled to the back of his head. "Barry!"


End file.
